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Waste requirements for large events

Following the introduction of the Solid Waste Management and Minimisation Bylaw 2020, all large events require a Waste Management and Minimisation Plan.

What's on this page

Before you apply Create a plan After your event Contact

If your event will have:

  • more than 1,000 total attendees outdoors, or
  • more than 5,000 total attendees indoors

You need to submit an Event Waste Management and Minimisation Plan.

Where an event is predominantly seated and indoors then this requirement may not apply. Please check with us at wasteplans@wcc.govt.nz.

When to submit your plan:

  • For 10,000 people and under: 30 working days before the event.
  • For over 10,000 people: 60 working days before the event.

Before you apply

Complete the following before starting an Event Waste Plan:

  • read about how to reduce waste at your event
  • know the types of waste your event will generate
  • plan how to incorporate reusables into your event, if possible
  • book a contractor(s) to collect the rubbish, recycling and organics from your event
  • book bins to collect waste and recycling – we have free bins and hoods you can borrow
  • have provisions in place for diverting food waste – we expect significant events to divert food waste from landfill, if feasible; we can decline approval of a plan if food waste diversion cannot be provided for
  • comply with the regional event packaging guidelines (1.06MB PDF). You must comply with these guidelines if:
    • ­you are running a significant event on Wellington City Council-owned land, and/or
    • the material will be composted at Capital Compost. 
  • have plans in place to communicate packaging requirements with vendors and stall holders
  • know the number of public litter bins within the events site boundary
  • have the site plan ready, which includes location of:
    • waste stations
    • waste sorting and/or storage facilities
    • signage
    • site entry and exit points
    • food and beverage vendors
    • merchandise vendors
    • location of all public litter bins within the event site
    • the route collection vehicles will use to access the waste storage facilities during the event, if applicable.

Create a plan

The Event Waste Management and Minimisation Plan takes around 20 minutes to complete.

Submit your plan

After your event

Within 1 month after your event has finished, you must provide the Council with a waste analysis report.

This report should include:

  • The types of waste generated by the event: Including compost, co-mingled recycling, glass and rubbish. 
  • The amounts of waste (by type) generated by the event: These should be provided in kilograms if possible. Use our conversion table (120KB PDF) to help you convert your waste from litres to kilograms.
  • The amount of waste avoided and diverted: We would like to know whether you met your waste diversion targets, and how much waste was diverted. Please give this figure as a percentage of total event waste.
  • The waste management facilities used to recover, recycle, treat or dispose of your waste.
  • Any additional relevant information: For example, an explanation of any unforeseen changes made to the Waste Plan during the event.

Submit a report

Contact us

If you need help, contact our team: wasteplans@wcc.govt.nz