About Us

In 1993 Ashburton District Council formed a working party with the Ashburton District Council to develop a Solid Waste Management Strategy for the district and Anita Coghill and Sheryl Stivens were part of this working group.
Anita and Sheryl as volunteers went on to form WasteBusters Trust with the aim of developing a comprehensive and workable waste minimisation program for the 28 schools in the Ashburton district.

The Ashburton District Council developed a contractual agreement in 1994 with WasteBusters Trust to deliver waste minimisation education to the schools and the community.

WasteBusters innovative program featured in North and south magazine in 1995 and encouraged caring for our environment through the reduction and reuse of waste; composting, worm farms; and recycling.

WasteBusters comprehensive schools program was soon extended to include community composting demonstrations, speaking engagements, worm farming, and a zero waste display of products made form recycled materials.

In 1996 the first Winter Waste Fest was held to celebrate waste as a misplaced resource and encourage waste minimisation through art, creativity and education. This is now an annual event with participants from through out the country in the wearable arts, workshops and various events.

In 1995 the first rural recycling depots were set up with support from local transport companies and continue to be managed at Methven, Mt Somers, Willowby, Mayfield and recently Hinds Districts as part of the Trust’s contractual agreement with Ashburton District Council.

In 1996 with support from Environment Canterbury a Waste Exchange was set up in Ashburton with trained staff visiting local businesses to list materials for reuse and help reduce waste to landfill. In 2005 1109 cubic metres of materials were diverted from landfill and reused by local businesses. In 2008 2415 cubic metres (27 tonnes) of materials were accessed for reuse via the Ashburton Waste Exchange.

In 1997 WasteBusters were contracted by the Selwyn District Council to deliver their waste minimisation education program to the Districts Schools. A range of community education events were also delivered.

In 1999 a contract was developed with Environment Canterbury to deliver waste exchange services to businesses in the Selwyn district. In 2005 417 cubic metres of materials were diverted from landfill and reused by local businesses. In 2008 661 cubic metres (81 tonnes) of materials were accessed for reuse via the Selwyn Waste Exchange

In 1999 a worm farm windrow featuring one tonne of tiger worms housed in a 15-metre tunnel house was set up to trial the processing of organic waste from hotels, bakeries, abattoirs and the wool scour into vermicast. The resulting rich vermicast was achieved with no smell or flies. The site attracted many visitors from throughout New Zealand and WasteBusters then began marketing worms and worm farms as organic waste recyclers and promoting the use of vermicast and worm liquid to enhance soils and increase water retention.   

Trials for processing pig hair, paunch and toe nails for Ashburton Meat Processors later led to this Company setting up a large scale worm farm onsite initially saving $76,000 in transport and disposal fees and processing their wastes into high quality vermicompost.

From 1998 onwards Zero Waste rapidly gained momentum in the South Island with over 75% of councils soon adopting a zero waste to landfill policy and five additional WasteBusters groups getting underway independently of each other at Wanaka, Central Otago, Taieri, Queenstown and Southland.

In 2001 Zero Waste NZ, provided funding to establish a model education centre at the then new Ashburton Resource Recovery Park to help with the mind shift ' from rubbish to resource”.

Local people as well as visitors and bus tours from around NZ and overseas regularly visit to see the range of displays and learn more about organic recycling systems including E.M (Effective Micro-organisms), Bokashi, composting and worm farming.

In 2008 an average of over 350 tonnes of recycled materials are sold monthly from the Ashburton Resource Recovery Park. Support from local transport companies for cost effective rates for transporting recycled products has greatly assisted and is a shining example of communities working together towards zero waste. Many materials are now transported off site in bulk loads via shipping containers.

Initially in 2001 space for reuse activities was very limited. Sales of reusables were identified as a way to fund further reduction of waste to landfill. Trailers passing the recycling shed on the way to the Transfer Station were seen to contain large volumes of reusable items. Wastebusters invested in developing a ReStore area with policies and procedures for operating in line with other retail stores and improving customer services. The community reacted positively and before long donations of antiques, collectables and high quality goods were being donated to Wastebusters for reuse.

In 2006 Funky Junk was set up to display antiques, collectables and Kiwiana such as Crown Lynn pottery. A reused building was relocated onsite to house Funky Junk. Silent Auctions of special items including historical books, records, paintings and china were planned twice a year to attract new people to the site and inspire them with the zero waste journey.

In 2003 following a year of trials and research into the production of high quality compost. (With support from the Zero Waste Academy and funding from Community Employment Group), Wastebusters negotiated a contract with Ashburton District Council to manage the composting, construction and demolition areas of the Resource Recovery Park.

In 2005 WasteBusters purchased the Willibald Shredder to enable regular shredding of greenwaste and further development of wood waste products.

In 2006 a foodwaste collection & composting trial using the Rotocom invessel system to process the products and cornstarch bags for collection was very successful with the 3 streets participating unanimously supporting the collection to continue long-term. Andar Holdings, Zero Waste NZ, Ashburton District Council and the NZ Nature Farming Trust supported this project.

Plans are underway to access the support to collect foodwaste from households and businesses throughout the Ashburton District.

The resulting high quality compost will be promoted for application to farms as a composted soil conditioner to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers.

Consultants working for Woodhams contacted Wastebusters in April 2007 seeking a solution and an alternative to carting 2700 cubic metres of woolscour sludge from the Ashburton woolscour site to Kate Valley Landfill, North Canterbury. 

A proposal was drawn up to compost the sludge on site with Andar Holdings building a purpose built mixer to mix Wastebusters compost with the sludge and Steve Kroening of Andar to provide technical assistance.

The mixer was fitted with a spray bar for the application of EM, Effective Micro-organisms with advisory support from Mike Daly, NZ Nature Farming Trust.

Grant Hood Contracting provided the equipment and Wastebusters managed the project including taking temperatures and moisture control. Environment Canterbury gave approval for the project to get underway and Woodhams agreed to fund the solution.

2,700 cubic metres of smelly, contaminated sludge has now been mixed, processed and composted onsite so that there is now 5,000 cubic metres of high quality composted soil conditioner available locally for application to farmland.

In 2008 compost sales are increasing, as are sales of demolition materials and other ReStore items. Our Funky junk area of antiques and collectibles and relics from the past is flourishing and a new revamp area is underway. The site is looking great and we have a good team of excellent workers and a supportive Council and community.

Increasing transport costs and the handling of materials such as glass, ewaste and gas cylinders remain our biggest challenges. We desperately need producer responsibility and legislation and support from Central Government.

Together Everyone Achieves More