This is the Executive Summary of a consultant report by Pragmatica which uses three case studies to examine how well The Waste Minimisation Fund – Te Pūtea Whakamauru Para, and the Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfill Fund – Tahua mō ngā Pae Hawa me ngā Ruapara, are delivering on their core purposes: to create value through a range of infrastructure investments, to reduce waste, boost recycling and reuse, and to remediate contaminated sites.
Key themes are that seed funding unlocks change, progress comes from many complementary actions, relationships drive results, the funds enable stewardship and kaitiakitanga, and the Waste Levy works best when paired with education.
Pragmatica also makes some recommendations on ways the funds' impact may be strengthened.
This is the Executive Summary of a consultant report by Pragmatica which uses three case studies to examine how well The Waste Minimisation Fund – Te Pūtea Whakamauru Para, and the Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfill Fund – Tahua mō ngā Pae Hawa me ngā Ruapara, are delivering on their core purposes: to create value through a range of infrastructure investments, to reduce waste, boost recycling and reuse, and to remediate contaminated sites.
Key themes are that seed funding unlocks change, progress comes from many complementary actions, relationships drive results, the funds enable stewardship and kaitiakitanga, and the Waste Levy works best when paired with education.
Pragmatica also makes some recommendations on ways the funds' impact may be strengthened.
Note: In August 2026, we made a small correction to this report and the changes are noted in the updated version. In the previous version, a figure from the Zero Waste Network (2021) was mistakenly described as representing organic waste, when it actually referred to total waste. In some instances this didn't line up with the other figures in the report and these have been removed it to avoid any confusion. For the most up-to-date current waste tonnage figures, visit Waste statistics | Ministry for the Environment, which we recommed as the best source for future analysis and reporting.