The four West Coast councils have joined forces to help save construction and demolition waste from going to landfill.
Photo: Samuel Mann / CC BY 2.0
Buller, Grey and Westland district councils have partnered with the West Coast Regional Council and secured $900,000 from the Waste Minimisation Fund for the recovery, reuse, and reprocessing of construction and demolition waste.
West Coast Regional Council consents and compliance manager Colin Helem said the project was focused on cutting down the significant volumes of building waste entering landfills.
The first phase of the project is to establish the structures and identify stakeholders. A study will then be done to evaluate the network's feasibility, before the infrastructure will be developed to support the recovery, reuse, and reprocessing of the different construction and demolition waste streams.
Grey District Council utilities engineer and infrastructure manager Kurtis Perrin-Smith said it was putting foundations in place to make sure the key parties are involved.
The project steering group will include representatives from the four councils, mana whenua Ngāti Waewae and Makaawhio, and industry representatives from Mitre10 and Reefton-based demolition company Rosco Contractors Ltd.
Westland District Council operations manager Erle Bencich said Tonkin + Taylor would complete a feasibility study to test the project's market viability with results expected at the end of the year.
Once the feasibility study was complete the project steering group and Ministry for the Environment will decide whether it indicates any viable options.