Making Wellington a Circular City
Published 29 April 2022
An Economic Wellbeing Strategy for the City and the link with Zero Waste
By Waste Free Welly
Wellington City Council is putting in place an Economic Wellbeing Strategy which for the first time makes transitioning to a circular economy (CE) an objective for the Council. To meet the big challenges of our time, we need an economic strategy that recognises the need for fundamental economic change. Done right, the Circular Economy will be a powerful framework to achieve this.
Circular Economy and Zero Waste
The Circular Economy is based on designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use and regenerating natural systems and brings economic, social and environmental benefits:
Climate action: emissions from material and product manufacture, use and disposal as waste account for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Economic growth: new growth and business opportunities; Auckland estimates that it could be $6-$8 billion better off.
Resilient communities and liveable cities: reduced reliance on global supply chains, improved air quality, reduced pollution and community cohesion.
In realising these benefits, waste is progressively eliminated and landfills are made redundant.
Circular Cities and Regions
Cities have a high concentration of resources, capital, data, and talent spread over a relatively small geographic area, and so are well placed to drive the global transition towards a circular economy, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Circular cities and regions are popping up around the globe, one of the first to identify the ambition was Amsterdam. They are collaborating and sharing knowledge to support one another to move away from business as usual, and developing new ways of thinking, working, taking action, and measuring and gathering insights.
Zero waste strategies will be critical to achieve the transition, and organisations like GAIA and Zero Waste Europe have created practical Zero Waste Masterplans to assist cities with their ambitions.
The role of local government in the transition
The Circular City Actions Framework, produced to support cities worldwide as they progress their circular journey, identifies a circular city as one that promotes a just transition from a linear to a circular economy across the urban space, through multiple city functions and departments and in collaboration with residents, businesses and the community.
The City of Greater Bendigo is home to over 120,000 people and Victoria's third largest economic base. The area has some similarities with Wellington City, with the landfill reaching capacity this year. Back in January, Waste Free Welly spoke with Scott Bryant from Greater Bendigo Council, who started in a newly created role as Circular Economy Co-ordinator in 2020:
“I would say that the role of local government is ultimately about delivering and facilitating tangible circular economy outcomes for communities and supporting businesses and community organisations to do the same. There is a great power, often under-utilised, with local government to act as the civic-duty representation of the community and use its enduring presence — societal collapse notwithstanding — to be a force for good, rather than a passive institution."
Here we draw on our conversation with Scott, and the roles for Council identified in the Economic Wellbeing Strategy, to identify how we think WCC can create the conditions for the circular economy to reach its full potential, including how Wellington must transform its relationship to waste to be able to transition to a circular economy.
Advocate - promote circular economy internally and externally
Scott’s role has involved creation, and now implementation, of a circular economy strategy with the remit to work at all levels and across departments. Internally, this involves shifting thinking from managing waste to eliminating waste. It includes adapting Council operations so they are not contributing to waste production and educating Council staff about the circular economy.
Having a specific circular economy role or unit in WCC with an overarching circular economy strategy, would support strategy integration, avoid siloed thinking and identify interconnections. A critical connection that is needed in the Economic Wellbeing Strategy is between Wellington’s waste strategy and economic development but also other plans that relate to economic development including the District Plan and Lets Get Welly Moving. Waste infrastructure must be planned and resourced to support the transition.
For instance, integrating circular economy principles into the District Plan and Design guides supports the designing out of waste in the first place. Having an interconnected resource recovery network then ensures there are ways to recover any remaining waste and keep the resources circulating in the local economy.
Externally, another strand to the Greater Bendigo strategy is to support circular economy activities in local business. Raising the awareness of success stories already happening in the city builds knowledge and capacity. There are many thriving examples of circular economy in Wellington to build on, many of which have already received support from the Council, including Kaicycle, Mevo, Reusabowl and Hopper Refill.
Provider - new approaches to service delivery that go beyond business as usual
Greater Bendigo has developed one of the first circular procurement policies in Australia. This is normalising the use of reused/repurposed/recycled content products and materials in designs and projects. All projects and contracts require the submission of a circular option (instead of, or alongside their 'business as usual' proposal) and products/materials need to be recyclable at end-of-life (or justify the need for an exception).
Early wins have included incorporating recycled content in road maintenance and making refurbished IT equipment standard. Council is also recognising the carbon footprint of stuff and the impact of consumption on carbon emissions. Circular economy has been integrated into the climate change strategy and Scott will be putting in place systems to track material consumption alongside contracts.
Every year Wellington City Council spends over $500 million with external suppliers on works, goods and services that help the Council run its operations and deliver its projects. This is a huge opportunity to create impact. The Council's new procurement approach will use its spending power to create positive social and environmental outcomes. A natural step would be aligning the process to deliver circular economy solutions. Innovative approaches to procurement could be scaled by working with others in the city, such as the national government agencies that are based in Wellington.
Co-design is a process of collaboration between groups of people for the purpose of gaining new insights into problems and creating solutions. Co-design done well is an opportunity for people to impact, lead, and shape the things that influence their lives. Resourcing mana whenua and the community in the co-design of services recognises the value the wider city ecosystem can bring to the table in terms of creativity, knowledge and expertise.
Regulator - regulate some activities and control what happens on Council property and land
In London, Circular Economy Statements put circular economy principles at the heart of designing new buildings, requiring buildings that can more easily be dismantled and adapted over their lifetime. Greater Bendigo will be banning single use plastics from Council venues.
Some regulation is necessary to ensure the Southern landfill becomes the destination of last resort. The WCC revised Waste Bylaw has powers that, well enforced, will support the circular economy. High value building projects now have to submit a Waste Management and Minimisation Plan. The waste management planning required for large outdoor and indoor events will help put Wellington City on the map as a sustainable visitor destination.
Council could go further by continuing to increase landfill disposal fees and by using resource consents to ban the landfilling of certain waste streams. With separate collection of green waste already required, the Bylaw Controls could ensure we have clean, uncontaminated streams of all kinds of organic materials, making it easier and more cost effective to set up composting sites across Wellington. Events that receive Council funding, or that take place on Council land, could be further controlled to phase out problematic waste streams and focus on reuse.
Facilitator - learning and connection between businesses, mana whenua and other organisations.
Circular Glasgow has galvanised the local business community to make the transition to a circular economy. Glasgow Council has partnered with others to facilitate access to opportunities to learn, connect and share knowledge. Greater Bendigo is also facilitating connections between businesses in a very practical way. They have introduced the Aspire material resource matchmaking platform that allows businesses to exchange waste as a resource in the local marketplace.
The Urban Dream Brokerage is a fantastic project with WCC support that gives space for new ideas from artists, creatives and social practitioners in our cities. Recently support was given to A Place for Local Making - a project about resourcefulness including upcycling and repair. Enabling longer term access to spaces at reduced or no rent, and widening the remit to include circular economy businesses and initiatives would provide space for collaboration and innovation.
Council land could also be made more readily accessible for local-scale composting initiatives, which could in turn support urban farming/local food production and the restoration of degraded urban soils.
Partner - partnering and collaborating with other stakeholders
Council doesn’t have the resources to do everything. WCC can unlock greater impact and use resources more efficiently through partnering.
In Greater Bendigo’s case, they are using the Council’s procurement powers to provide small business with access to circular goods and services. In the first case study, fifty small cafes will get access to milk supplied in reusable and returnable packaging. Given collectively, cafe’s and hospitality businesses are a large employer and spender in the city, It makes sense for Wellington City to work on a similar project.
Partnerships between community enterprises and Council-run services ensure that services complement each other, play to their strengths, and help close the loop by supporting and extending the reach of best-practice local solutions, while also avoiding the excess costs and inefficiencies of a one-size-fits-all system.
Waste Free Welly is involved in a collaboration called Washing Up Welly. WCC; Sky Stadium; Venues Wellington, Sustainability Trust, Kāpura, Takeaway Throwaways, Buttercup and Nonstop Solutions are working together to introduce reusable servicewear for city events. Each of the partners brings unique skills and capability to the successful delivery of the project.
As WCC explores options for diverting organic waste from landfill, there is a big opportunity for Council to partner with Waste Free Welly members like Kaicycle and Why Waste who are already diverting food scraps at a small-scale and supporting circular food systems through regenerative urban farming and community gardening. These initiatives have the potential to scale-out and replicate their models across the city, particularly in areas and situations where conventional kerbside collections are impractical.
Funder
Funding is the most obvious way for Council to support implementation.
Resources will need to be allocated in the Long Term Plan to implement the objectives of the strategy. Other ways funding can be used:
Circular economy and sustainability criteria can be integrated into the assessment of all funding applications.
Funding can be made available for collaboration.
Subsidise circular economy training and internship opportunities.
Provide loans and subsidies for circular economy activities.
Provide access to circular economy business support and support for circular economy businesses.
Our version of the vision for the Economic Wellbeing Strategy makes low waste and circular economy central “Wellington as a dynamic city with a resilient and innovative low waste, low carbon circular economy that provides opportunities for all and protects and regenerates our environment”
Congratulations WCC on the intent to step up, show leadership and establish the policy instruments, procurement practices and regulatory frameworks that advantage circularity over linearity. We feel that the strength of this intent needs to be better reflected in action and we want to work with the Council to make sure the vision can be realised in the detail of the implementation.
You can read the supporting document from Waste Free Welly’s consultation submission here. This is the first of a number of pivotal moments in a year that will determine ambition on circular economy and zero waste in the city. Next up, the Annual Plan consultation has opened which includes making a decision about how we dispose of Wellington’s residual waste (what's left after we reduce, reuse and recycle ) and a revised Waste Minimisation and Management Plan will be drafted this year.
Waste Free Welly is an open and collaborative group of individuals and organisations working to progress the vision of zero waste in the Wellington Region. Our group includes enterprises, advocates, educators, researchers, NGOs, and consultants who all share the same vision of a zero waste city. For more information on Waste Free Welly, get in touch with Polly Griffiths at polly.griffiths@sustaintrust.org.nz.