Linking local waste reduction initiatives with global action.
The Resourceful Communities project aims to link global work on the circular economy with local reduce and reuse activities and initiatives.
Throughout the year we run workshops and programmes that offer our community practical solutions to value our resources.
Our Resourceful Communities survey helps us to understand our community’s reduce and reuse behaviours. The feedback we receive helps to guide and develop our zero-waste education campaigns and events.
Whether it’s learning how to repair a broken item through our Repair Revolution events, changing your shopping habits to reduce your household waste with our Low Waste Living workshops or rethinking your wardrobe during Slow Fashion Month, we’ve got a programme for you.
Wastebusters Resourceful Communities Project is proudly supported by Queenstown Lakes District Council, Zero Waste District Programme.
We surveyed 919 people from Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago in June and July 2023, and released our findings in September 2023.
Our survey found that despite the challenges posed by the cost of living crisis, the majority of people are still choosing to reuse and reduce. Notably, there was an upturn in the frequency of secondhand shopping (68% always or usually, compared to 55% in 2021). Across many behaviours there were similar results to previous years, showing how these behaviours are now habits and “just what we do here”. We also found a significant upturn in the frequency of the use of reusable period products, this was especially so in the age groups 25 – 34 and 35 – 44 where over 50% of respondents said they “always” or “usually” use these products, a 36% and 40% shift from the 2021 survey.
Thanks to everyone who took part! We have gleaned some great insights into our community’s behaviours and concerns and will use this to inform our future campaigns, initiatives and resources.
In 2021, we asked people in Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes about a range of behaviours from taking your own cup or container, to refilling and repairing, all with the aim of identifying the barriers that prevent people from reducing and reusing. 1,003 of you responded!
As in 2019, the results underline people’s deep concern for our environment and the impact that our choices are making.
It is now the norm in Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes for people to use their own bag or bottle, with 96% and 92% respectively, always or usually doing so. Bring Your Own (BYO) cups are a little behind with 57% of people in the wider survey area always or usually doing this, but an outstanding 72% of Wānaka residents have given up take-away cups!
Wastebusters has gleaned some great insights into our community’s behaviours and concerns as well as how far we have come since 2019 when we first undertook the survey. Thank you again!
Wastebusters study of barriers to waste reduction and reuse in Central Otago, released in November 2019, reveals people are deeply concerned about their environmental impact. It’s now the social norm to carry our own bag and bottle, and more than 50% of us take our own coffee cup. The main barrier to reuse is forgetfulness.
Most people wanted businesses to help them reduce their environmental impact. The majority of respondents were keen to see BYO containers encouraged, a reduction in packaging, and businesses reducing and recycling their own waste.
The survey was answered by 675 people. The insights will be used in future campaigns and initiatives, to create helpful workshops and further online resources, and to target Wastebusters activities for maximum waste reduction impact.
This year our amazing Wastebusters whānau has been busy keeping everything we can out of landfill and supporting resourcefulness in our community while also working on bringing our dream of Wastebusters 2.0 into reality.
We were humbled and absolutely stoked to take home the Wānaka Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Supreme Business Award, along with the Community Contribution and Business Sustainability awards. This success was a powerful recognition of the dedicated mahi of our entire team, giving us huge confidence for the ambitious journey ahead.
We welcomed Aviette Musin on a fixed-term contract as our new Programme Manager for Wastebusters 2.0. Her expertise provided the dedicated, focused capacity needed to accelerate progress on this strategic goal.
Funding was secured through Queenstown Lakes Community Composting Project for the Compost Collect pilot, a joint venture with our neighbours Wānaka Greenwaste that will turn commercial food scraps into valuable compost, launching in 2026. We also intensified our focus on Construction and Demolition (C&D) materials, trialling diversion methodology and securing initial partnerships to divert waste from landfill. With our current site so space-constrained, we are extremely limited in the C&D materials which can be accepted for reuse, but this work will lay the groundwork for future diversion on a bigger site.
We made a compelling case to the Council for the necessary land expansion for Wastebusters 2.0 and prepared for the MfE Waste Minimisation Fund application process to support our expansion plans.
A continued focus for us this year has been on strengthening the Wastebusters whānau and ensuring we are equipped not just for the daily challenges, but for future growth. We continued to be a Living Wage employer, reflecting our commitment to the well-being and value of our staff. Feedback from the team via staff survey results highlighted strong morale and resilience within our workplace culture with 89% saying they enjoy working at Wastebusters and 93% feeling cared for by their manager.
The district’s rapid growth brings challenges as well as opportunities, particularly the Ballantyne Road/Riverbank Road roadworks which demanded flexibility and good humour from our team and customers throughout 2024. Despite the road cones, ongoing community support ensured our Reuse Shop continued to be a first choice destination for both locals and visitors. Improved donation flows and adding new changing rooms has made the shop operation smoother and more efficient for everyone.
Wastebusters’ partnership with events continues to go from strength to strength: including the trial of a food scraps collection from vendors. And our Recycle team did the huge job of relabeling all our events recycling bins to align with national recycling colours, making it easier for event-goers to know what to do. Wastebusters recycling trucks continue to be a much-loved presence in town servicing our 408 business customers, with the team doing a great job of keeping our aging fleet serviceable, in line with our kaupapa of keeping resources in use for as long as possible.
Our Reduce team has continued to deliver exceptional impact, with more than 11,000 people engaged in person through our education and engagement in the community. The Resourceful Communities programme inspires our community to take action and builds the knowledge and know how to engage in areas like repair, low waste living and textile waste diversion. It is proudly supported by QLDC’s zero waste district’s programme which recognises the impact of community connection for zero waste action.
We were stoked to join Environment Hubs Aotearoa, and we look forward to collaborating with this network and amplifying our collective impact on environmental action and resourcefulness across Aotearoa.
We worked with an impact consultant to implement an evaluation framework and behaviour change model to better plan, deliver and measure our impact, and have begun rolling out our learnings across all our programmes.
It was a busy year in advocacy, starting with participation in QLDC’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan process. We appreciated QLDC’s approach in bringing Wastebusters and other stakeholders in early in the process, which has resulted in a constructive plan for the next six years. Wastebusters has also made submissions on national and local level, including The Right to Repair Bill, the Container Return Scheme and the publicly notified resource consent for McDonald’s in Wānaka.
Ultimately, this year has been about delivering impact while building the foundations for a much larger and even more impactful operation, securing Wastebusters’ future for our community. The heart of our work remains resource recovery and community engagement, and we enter the next 25 years of zero waste leadership with great confidence, welcome community support and an unwavering focus.
Gina Dempster
General Manager
November 2025
Let us know what you love & what we could do better & you’ll go into the draw to win a $250 restaurant voucher!