Activity Group: Solid Waste Management from Wither Road. The site will operate similarly to the other transfer stations but will focus on hazardous waste including agricultural chemicals and spent Asset Description containers. The intent is to have this facility operational by 1 July 2019. The Council’s principal assets supporting this Activity are the regional landfill Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) facility, the network of transfer stations, waste sorting centre, rural community recycling bins, and the resource recovery centre/re-use shop facility. The landfill generates and emits gas as a by-product of waste decomposition. Under the Climate Change Regulations (2002) the emissions are now subject to a Emerging Issues and Expected Changes surrender obligation where carbon credits are traded against the tonnage of The introduction of Product Stewardship schemes could have a significant impact on emissions. The landfill has a flare and associated collection system which burns the cost of managing waste and recycling. the gas on site. The efficiency of this system along with the percentage of biodegradable material within the incoming waste has been assessed and is used to allow the site to define its Unique Emissions Factor (UEF). This UEF has Product Stewardship is an environmental management strategy that means allowed the site to reduce its liability for carbon credits from a default in the district whoever designs, produces, sells, or uses a product takes responsibility for of 50,000 tonnes to a surrender value in the district of 14,000 tonnes. The current minimising the product's environmental impact throughout all stages of carbon price for surrendered units is approximately $20 per tonne. the product’s life cycle, including end of life management. Additional upgrades to the landfill gas system will see an improved efficiency in There are two types of product stewardship schemes, voluntary and mandatory. extraction. Future uses of this gas as a fuel continue to be explored. The To date the approach has focused on voluntary schemes set up by interested challenge is in developing a consistent flow of gas. parties. In future the focus is likely to be on mandatory schemes through the Government’s declaration of ‘priority products’. Major Budgeted Capital Projects Council supports the costs associated with managing waste products being The following table outlines the major budgeted projects and areas of expenditure redistributed to the producer/consumer and away from the ratepayer. We will proposed for this Activity over the next 10 years. Although these items are continue to participate in policy discussions and development of product budgeted, in some cases further public consultation will be required with the stewardship at a national level as a means of achieving this. relevant community before the project is implemented. These projects are also listed under the Capital Expenditure line of the Funding Impact Statement at the end of this Activity section. Areas Major Capital Projects Inflated value (Millions) Blenheim 2018-28 Bluegums development $12.1 2020-21 Replacement of crates $0.2 2018-2028 Long Term Plan Page 102