Auckland Council has an aspirational goal of zero waste to landfill by 2040. That means by recycling, composting food waste, re-using items, re-purposing materials, and preventing waste in the first place, we'll be on target to send as little as possible to landfill.  This will save valuable raw resources and energy, and help us achieve our goal of making Auckland the world's most liveable city.

Since our first region-wide Waste Management and Minimisation Plan was launched in 2012, we have made headway.  The amount of household waste generated by an average Aucklander dropped by 10 per cent between 2010 and 2016 – from 160kg/person to 144kg/person. Waste from council's own administrative offices dropped by 30 per cent over the same period.  But we can still do better.

Reusable or repairable items recovered from inorganic collections are currently provided to local community recycling centres, as well as charities who can register to receive items.

During the next 10 years, we are developing a network of community recycling centres so people can drop off unwanted goods at any time of the year.

Resources recovered from inorganic collections will provide materials to those centres, as well as charities. Collecting items from on-property will also ensure materials are intact and reusable.

We expect that the centres will become community destinations for reusing, recycling and refurbishing items, and offer business and job opportunities for local people.