Wanganui District Council may not be a major player in the field of waste management but is expected to take a leading role in efforts to minimise waste.
The council has just adopted its 2015 Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP), which will shortly go out for public consultation. It revises the council's initial plan put in place six years ago.
Under terms of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008, all local authorities are required to promote effective and efficient waste management and minimisation within their boundaries.
Wanganui's council was one of the first to adopt a WMMP in 2009. It also committed to building a resource recovery centre and to reviewing its plan this year.
Policy adviser Stuart Hylton, who drafted the plan, said it builds on the success of the recovery centre in Maria Place and would continue to partner "like-minded groups and organisations" to provide sustainable waste minimisation services.
Mr Hylton said the new plan focuses on waste as a resource and has six clear objectives.
Among them were finding better ways to recover, re-use and recycle waste, community education and support for waste minimisation initiatives.
Councillor Rob Vinsen said the plan served to reinforce the council's commitment to reducing waste.
"We have a responsibility to the community. We may have a minimal role to play in providing the service but we have a key role in terms of leadership," Mr Vinsen said.
He said kerbside recycling collection has been raised in the past and the revised plan did so again, but as an alternative it suggests satellite collection centres across the city and district.
"There will be a cost but it will show just how committed the council is to waste minimisation," Mr Vinsen said.
Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan said the council had turned away from kerbside recycling but she said it was an area "we're struggling to front up to".
She said not providing kerbside collections created the wrong perception both outside the district and among new arrivals.
And she said while it was a matter of affordability, the council should at least be looking at other options.