Waste management at He Toki Kai Te Rika
There’s a strong sustainability focus at our He Toki Kai Te Rika – Otago Polytechnic Trades Training Centre site.
The project follows living building challenge (LBC) principles. Waste management is an important part of this, with a target of 80% of waste being diverted from landfill.
Our team, led by Senior QS Matt Meehan, has put a lot of effort into finding homes for the many waste streams that are generated on a large construction site, working with subcontractors, suppliers, community groups and the Council. This is the first site in Dunedin to have a PVC collection bag, a trial between Marley, Waste Management and Naylor Love.
We’re separating 10 waste streams on site in our waste resource centre, a number that will fluctuate as the project moves through its different phases.
We’re looking to take the lessons we’re learning in waste management at He Toki Kai Te Rika and apply them more widely. Our Auckland Environmental Manager Annie Day went down to check out the work that Matt and the team are doing.
We’re lucky to have some great partners supporting us as we work towards a near zero waste outcome, including Dunedin City Council and Waste Management NZ.
We met with Dunedin City Council Waste Minimisation Strategy Officer for Waste and Environmental Solutions Leigh McKenzie to have a kōrero about construction waste in Dunedin. Dunedin is actively committed to zero waste and reducing Dunedin’s net carbon emissions to zero by 2030, huge goals that we’re delighted to get behind! We’ve shared our Dunedin Waste Partnership List to help the DCC kick off their regional database.
We took Charlotte Lowe from Waste Management on a site tour. We’re finding that regular meetings are a great way to build an understanding of each other’s operations and an opportunity to collaborate on new initiatives. We’re inviting Charlotte to come to our sites when we are setting up to help us with our Site Waste Management Plans. Waste Management are also helping us to collect detailed waste statistics for our sites – knowing exactly what we’re producing is an important step in reducing waste.
