2 Jul 2015

Tracking system cut 'a backward step'

10:10 am on 2 July 2015

Companies in the waste industry say scrapping a Government-backed tracking system is a backward step, and that it is actually so important they are going to fund it themselves.

National MP, Nick Smith.

Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

WasteTRACK is a voluntary computer system that tracks the movement of waste from where it was created, during its transportation, and through to its disposal.

But after a review two years ago, its funding has been completely cut.

There are fears if it is lost without a replacement, there could be a rise in illegal dumping.

Chairman of the Liquid and Hazardous Wastes Operators Group Certification Council Bruce Holland said getting rid of WasteTRACK would be a waste of 15 years of hard work.

"I don't think it's fair on the communities of this country. I don't think it's fair on those that have put a lot of their personal time and effort on developing something, just to have it thrown in the garbage."

Environment Minister Nick Smith said the system was ineffective, not good value for money, and needed $200,000 to pay for replacement servers and to fix system issues.

He said the take-up has been poor with only 15 of 67 councils using it, although industry bodies says that figure is higher, with more like 30 councils using some aspect of WasteTRACK.

But Mr Holland said the system was critical, and so important, that private funds had been raised to keep it going until the end of July.

"In essence it takes about $100,000 a year to run. We accept changes need to be made, and those changes will cost.

"But if we had an industry standard, we could actually turn this right around and put money back in the Government coffers."

Environmental fears

Mr Smith said high-risk hazardous substances - materials that are explosive, flammable, corrosive or toxic - will still be tracked by law.

He said there were other systems under the Environment Protection Authority, and the Resource Management Act that would ensure waste was regulated.

But Labour's environment spokesperson Megan Woods said taking the system away with nothing to fully replace it means there could be another rise in illegal dumping.

"The reality is if we that if we want to stop the illegal dumping of liquid and hazardous waste, then we have to have a way of tracking it.

If we don't track it, it will be illegally dumped and we're creating the contaminated land sites of the future.

We just need to look back a decade, before we had a system in place, when we didn't track liquid and hazardous waste, and we had far more illegal dumpings."

While private companies keep the previously public-funded WasteTRACK afloat, waste sector organisations are looking at what kind of system is needed.

The national president of the Trade and Industrial Waste Forum, Geoff Young, said they want to make it work, but know it's old and flawed.

"It's very much a 10-year-old operation, and it shows every one of its years.

"Let's see what we can do with WasteTRACK. Can we make it interface with smarter technology, can we make it interface with GPS tracking of the vehicles doing the movement, all these sorts of things."

Mr Young said they want to keep a nationwide industry standard, and will consider other options if WasteTRACK isn't viable.