Otaihanga Zero Waste Hub now open

Staff from Sustainability Trust, Localised and Kāpiti Coast District Council onsite at the Otaihanga Zero Waste hub

Sustainability Trust and Localised have created a new joint venture called Kāpiti Zero Waste (KZW) to operate the Otaihanga Zero Waste hub at 200 Otaihanga Road.

The signing of a lease agreement between Kāpiti Coast District Council, Localised and Sustainability Trust happened in 2023 and works to establish the site are well underway. The Otaihanga Zero Waste hub is open for weekday commercial timber and building material drop offs by appointment, with retail drop offs available in the weekends.

Zero waste hub supports businesses operating circular models

The vision for this Zero Waste Hub is to create a thriving, vibrant destination for the community; a collaborative space that supports local resilience, the circular economy and regeneration that:

Focuses on providing services up the waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse, repair, recycle)
Complements neighbouring services rather than compete (transfer station, green waste composting, building and construction skip hire)
Provides a welcoming space for local Zero Waste organisations and individuals to collaborate.
Is led by the community as to the services provided.

Kāpiti Coast District Council chief executive Darren Edwards says the resource recovery centre will go a long way towards removing reusable materials from landfill and reducing emissions.

“This includes organic products such as timber and plasterboard that produce greenhouse gas emissions when broken down in the ground,” says Mr Edwards.

The site will move towards improving the infrastructure for construction and demolition reuse and recovery and local businesses in the sector will be able to access this facility to support the implementation of their waste minimisation plans.

Up to 50 percent of waste in New Zealand that goes to landfill comes from construction and demolition. There is an extensive amount of construction happening across the greater Wellington region, approximately seven percent of the national number of dwellings under construction. The solid waste bylaw will require waste minimisation plans for construction above $2m and landfill capacity is reducing, with the cost of landfill increasing so this hub aims to support collaborative solutions for the sector. The Zero Waste hub also supports the implementation of the Wellington Region Waste Management & Minimisation Plan 2023-29 which was adopted in November 2023.

Waste management and minimisation is a critical issue in the Wellington region and across Aotearoa New Zealand as a whole. The way New Zealanders currently consume products, based on a linear ‘take-make waste dispose’ system, leads to large quantities of waste, where resources are not valued. Businesses have an opportunity to change the current linear system and this facility will support more circular models.

Find out more about how your business could work with the Otaihanga Zero Waste hub.