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Northland Waste has only been operating for just over a decade, but it has expanded rapidly to become New Zealand’s third-largest recycling and waste operator, behind Envirowaste and Waste Management, both of which are Chinese-owned.
Northland now has eight branches, from Cape Reinga to Wellington, with more than 350 employees and 100 trucks.
Managing director Ray Lambert is very much a Mahurangi local, however, and lives in Sandspit with his family. He believes being 100 per cent Kiwi-owned and keeping close ties with the local community are key to the company’s success.
“We’re proud to be fortunate enough to sponsor several local events and charities and believe that sustainable business practices start with locals supporting locals,” he says.
“There are not many Kiwi-owned operators left now, so we have had to think smart about how we do things and put our customers at the centre of all of the decisions we make, as our competitors are large multinationals with very deep pockets.”
Northland Waste began providing the weekly kerbside refuse collection locally in 2012 when it bought Mason Bins. It now provides a range of options for customers from bin bags and wheelie bins through to worm farms and skip bins, and more.
“Over the years, we have diversified our business to include extensive resource recovery and recycling operations, biofuel and composting initiatives, and focused on tech innovation,” Ray says.
He says this flexibility is ideal for Rodney, where residents can choose the service that suits their needs and property best, and pay only when they put their rubbish out. Not surprisingly, he is against a recent apparent about-turn by Auckland Council, which after years of promoting pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) to reduce rubbish, is now looking at adding refuse collection on to general rates. He says paying a waste levy through rates instead of buying bags is like sanctioning “all you can eat rubbish”.
“It doesn’t incentivise reducing your rubbish,” he says. “For the last two years we’ve been developing a PAYT solution which, prior to the announcement from Council, we were planning to launch for Rodney residents.”
The new Ecopay system involves a “smart bin” with a Radio Frequency identification (RFID) chip inside that works much like a Hop card or Uber account – that is, it only charges the owner when the bin is put out for collection and scanned by a refuse truck.
“It’s a fair system for all, incentivising waste reduction and rewarding those who don’t generate much waste,” Ray says. “We’re really proud of Ecopay, and really hope that we’re able to offer this solution to our community in future.”
