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Our waste and environmental specialists provide services that can help your business reduce waste generation, recover more materials, and reduce your overall carbon emissions associated with waste, assisting you and Aotearoa to a carbon-neutral and circular future.
Understand the composition of your waste and how you can reduce it.
Incorporate best practice waste management into the design of your new building or development.
Engaging our social enterprise partner to reduce waste and support communities.
Obtain sustainable, locally-made internal bins for your office.
ISO 14064 Scope 3 carbon emission data associated with landfill disposal.
A detailed investigation into the composition of your waste and recycling bins, to understand what your business is throwing away, and how you can make real-world changes to reduce wastage and improve recovery.
Over 100 sites audited across New Zealand
Over 35,000kg of materials hand sorted by our team
The Waste Audit service comprises a detailed analysis of the contents within your waste and recycling bins. The true value, however, lies within the story the data tells you.
Waste Audits involve completely emptying a bin of its contents, hand sorting through all the waste, weighing, photographing and building a detailed report to provide compositional data, procurement advice and in-depth recommendations for improvements.
This data can be utilised to inform investment decisions, creation of waste strategies and targets, tracking progress towards targets, or calculating unique emission factors for carbon reporting purposes. The audit delivers insights into where current processes are not working and provides a roadmap to follow to reach a better sustainable outcome.
The purpose of the waste audit can vary, and can include some of the following objectives:
Our expert team partner with fellow industry experts such as Tonkin + Taylor to ensure data integrity and 3rd party assurance, as well as our social enterprise partner, All Heart NZ, to ensure sorters for these audits are well looked after and paid appropriately, demonstrating people are not overlooked while focusing on the planet.
A waste audit includes the following:
Ensuring new buildings and developments accommodate for best practice waste management, such as storage space for bins and sufficient access for servicing vehicles.
Supports resource consent applications
This includes allocated waste storage areas, access for servicing waste vehicles and best practice source separation to ensure plans are in place to recover as much as possible.
Operational Waste Management Plans (OWMPs) are an excellent proactive management tool as they will ensure best-practice waste systems are implemented into the building’s design. A good OWMP will ensure that once the development is up and running, all waste streams are managed sustainably and safely, with a focus on waste reduction and materials recovery.
Our team develop OWMPs for residential, commercial and multi-use developments, providing a management plan to ensure all operational waste generated from daily activities are taken into account. In most cases, these OWMPs are a mandatory requirement for resource consent approval, and in other cases, they are required as evidence to prove your waste is being sustainably managed, especially for Green Star-accredited projects.
All commercial buildings seeking a Green Star Buildings rating must implement best practices for managing operational waste.
For Green Star projects using Design & As Built NZ v1.1 (available until June 2025), one point can be achieved via Credit 8: Operational Waste, with the Performance Pathway requiring an OWMP to be created.
For Green Star projects using the latest version, Green Star Buildings NZ, no points are awarded but it is a mandatory minimum expectation for Credit 4: Responsible to meet the Operational Waste requirements, with the Performance Pathway requiring an OWMP to be created.
WM Sustainability Services has worked closely with the NZGBC to support the new minimum expectations for operational waste under the Green Star Buildings framework.
You can find the NZGBC press release and useful resources via the below links:
Over 100 tonnes of corporate waste diverted from landfill
As of the end of 2024, All Heart NZ has collected over 6,000 tonnes of materials, recovering an average of 90 percent! At the same time, they have supported over 490 communities, with over $19 million raised/saved for community needs.
If you have reusable items such as the examples below, WM New Zealand and All Heart NZ can find a new home for these items instead of landfill disposal:
The list of recoverable or reusable items is almost endless, so if you think you may have items that could benefit from a second life, please get in touch with us.
Implementing training and continuous education is an important aspect for driving behaviour change.
Custom training packages available
It also includes changing the culture of a business to focus on shifting up the waste hierarchy and implementing waste reduction practices which can be led by procurement and switching from single-use to multi-use options.
Our team offers a range of bespoke education and training packages. These are tailored to suit the unique needs of each customer, with training options coming in many forms including:
Topics covered include, but are not limited to:
WM New Zealand partners with Method Recycling®, which enables us to provide their award-winning Method Bins to our customers at below recommended retail price (RRP).
Designed for durability with a 5-year warranty
Method’s End-of-Life Bin Program
Source separation is an essential part of minimising waste and maximising materials recovery, and Method Bins are designed to make recycling easier with a proven increases of recycling rates for many workplaces.
These bins, suitable for any corporate environment, are proudly made in New Zealand out of 50%-80% recycled polypropylene collected from recycling services in Christchurch and Manawatu.
Faced with landfill challenges, the Australian National Maritime Museum transformed its waste management with Method bins, innovative signage, and a renewed focus on recycling. By aligning values and fostering education, the Museum has achieved remarkable results, diverting nearly 80% of waste from landfill.
McConnell Dowell has revolutionised waste management on Melbourne's Western Program Alliance project sites with Australia's first 5-stream Method recycling system. Cutting landfill waste by 80% and contamination to just 2%, their tailored approach showcases a commitment to sustainability and sets new standards for recycling in the construction industry.
Western Program Alliance is driving waste reduction with an ambitious office recycling initiative, implementing up to 10 streams to exceed a 60% waste diversion target. With Method’s customised signage, they’ve improved recycling accuracy, reduced costs, and inspired sustainable habits, creating a positive impact for their projects, people, and the environment.
WM Sustainability Services offers a monthly subscription service that provides you with a report that details your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated from waste disposal.
Utilisation of Unique Emission Factors
Reportable emissions associated with landfill disposal
The subscription service provides a monthly report outlining waste data, including the reportable carbon emissions associated with landfill disposal.
The methodology for producing a Toitū carbon compatible report and its associated GHG emissions has been independently verified by Toitū Envirocare. The data is suitable for use in an ISO 14064 1:2018 compliant inventory, including a Toitū carbon reduce or Toitū carbon zero certified inventory.
The carbon reports come in multiple formats, whether it be a summary PDF document, or a detailed Excel worksheet which customers can filter and pivot to obtain their desired information.
WM Sustainability’s team members are highly educated sustainability experts, with tertiary degrees covering a range of areas, such as sustainable management, marketing and sustainable enterprise, and environmental geochemistry.
Meet our Sustainability and Communications Manager, Andrea Svendsen, who brings over two decades of expertise in communications to WM NZ. With experience in medical and environmental journalism, combined with strategic communications leadership, Andrea specialises in translating complex technical concepts into clear, compelling narratives that drive positive change.
At the heart of Andrea's work is her commitment to WM's people. She believes that by supporting our team, we enable them to be the best guardians of Aotearoa's environment they can be.
Tyron has a Bsc Honours in Environmental Geochemistry and a decade's worth of experience in the waste management industry, with a focus on circular economy, waste reduction and implementation of services to achieve sustainability goals.
Tyron has been given the nickname “Captain Planet” by one of his most valuable customers, as he is always looking for ways to reduce waste generation and improve resource recovery.
With a Master’s in Sustainable Management and past experience in marketing, Rhiannon is committed to fostering impactful partnerships, working to create sustainable outcomes and meaningful action. Known for her care and passion for the environment, Rhiannon also enjoys engaging in conservation efforts, including her previous involvement with the Whio Forever Recovery Programme.
She is passionate about leaving a positive impact – for the people living today, and on the world for generations to come.
Sarah has built a career on materials recovery and circular solutions. Before joining WM New Zealand she held a sustainability role in the construction and demolition industry, with a heavy focus on reducing waste sent to landfill. She also has extensive experience in Green Star projects.
She is passionate about working with businesses to achieve sustainability goals and holds a BA in social sciences and a postgraduate certificate in environmental management.
After finishing the graduate programme at WM New Zealand, Jannine has found her passion in data and engaging with people. Her academic background in environmental sciences and human geography fuels her work to help make sustainability and carbon reporting more understandable and relatable.
Jannine values the collaboration between different groups and individual, both internal and external to the company, that contribute to understanding opportunities and challenges, improving processes, and fostering better perspectives and practices on sustainability.
Michaela has stepped into the role of Sustainability Graduate following the completion of her Bachelor of Environmental Science. In her position, she supports carbon reporting, sustainability initiatives, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) projects.
Her deep passion for nature and animals is evident in her weekend volunteering, where she contributes to both the SPCA and a community garden club.
Our waste and environmental specialists provide services to help your business reduce waste generation, recover more materials, and reduce your overall carbon emissions associated with waste, assisting you and Aotearoa to a carbon-neutral and circular future.
Email our Team