COR0328
9 May 2024
Darren Patterson
Chair
Waste Advisory Board
By email: [email address]
Dear Darren,
Thank you for your continued work as Chair of the Waste Advisory Board (the Board). I write
to you to reply to your letter dated 4 December 2023 about the Board’s draft strategic plan
and provide an updated Terms of Reference for the Board.
The Board’s draft strategic plan
Thank you for your letter dated 4 December 2023 and for sharing the Board’s draft strategic
plan. I appreciate the work the Board has put into this document and in general I agree with
the Board’s strategic plan. I have outlined below the topics I would like the Board to prioritise
advising me on.
I am aware that Australia has a much lower per person amount of waste going to landfill and
I am keen to find out how this was achieved and what lessons can be adopted within the
New Zealand context.
As part of your work on priority areas 1 and 2, Whole of Government Approach to Waste
Minimisation and New Zealand’s Transition to Circular Economy, I would like you to include
a case study about Australia’s waste sector – with a particular focus on what drivers enable
Australia to have a lower level of waste disposal. Furthermore, in your work on priority area
4, Product Stewardship, I would be interested in hearing what schemes Australia have in
place and what is working or not working.
As part of your work on priority area 3, Emissions Reduction and Adaptation, you mention a
“circularity index” with an example from Scotland. I would like to know more about this case
study.
I would also like you to consider the advantages and disadvantages on a lighter touch
approach to reporting by territorial authorities to the Ministry for the Environment, and any
risks that may be associated with that.
Finally, I am curious about hazardous waste, its long-term effect on landfills and what can be
done now to prevent future contamination from the hazardous waste to the surrounding
environment. In addition to your proposal for priority area 11 Hazardous Waste, I would like
you to find out what the main hazardous waste and substances are that are being disposed
of, any available information on quantities and the scale of any issue.
Updated Terms of Reference
Please find attached to this letter an updated Terms of Reference for the Board, as required
by section 91(1) of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (the Act).
The Terms of Reference has been updated to:
• better reflect the current process to appoint new members, especially the Chair. This
includes:
o a requirement for nominations to be advertised in a Tauranga newspaper.
o An update to the reference in the Act to the Minister of Māori Affairs to the
relevant current portfolio name.
• better reflect the updated conflict of interest policy at the Ministry for the
Environment.
• update how fees and reimbursements are paid to the members of the Board by the
Ministry for the Environment.
There have also been changes to the language and the structure of the Terms of Reference.
Please note that I have not changed how the Board’s work programme and strategic plan
operates.
Thank you once again for your work on the strategy and the Board. I look forward to the
advice and insight you will provide.
Kind regards,
Hon Penny Simmonds
Minister for the Environment
