Kaikōura (New Zealand) has approximately 1500 tonnes of sewage sludge/biosolids that have been left to weather under a resource consent granted for 10 years until 2016. With less than one third of the time remaining on the consented biosolids storage, the Kaikōura District Council was keen to engage with the local community to explore and find acceptable reuse options. The Centre for Integrated Biowaste Research (CIBR) undertook a case study in Kaikōura to investigate biosolids management options with the community. The aim of the CIBR Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) funded research was to integrate biophysical and social science and support a shared-learning process amongst stakeholders to identify the strengths and weaknesses of possible biosolids reuse strategies. This report provides an account of the process and findings. Kaikōura District Council and community took part in the engagement process and provided well-considered input to produce a range of biosolids reuse solutions appropriate for the Kaikōura community. The methodology developed provides a framework for community engagement for biosolids reuse that can potentially provide a basis for regional land use planning, national guidelines and policy directions. The integration of social, cultural, environmental and economic considerations as part of the engagement model gave the community a mechanism to weight (prioritise) their concerns, enabling the community and the council to make a more informed robust and transparent decision. Overall the CIBR integrated engagement process was very successful and has enhanced the level and quality of engagement and knowledge shared between council and community on biosolids and waste management. Similar forms of collaborative community engagement could be utilised by local government to build shared knowledge and generate robust and sustainable decision-making for other environmental health issues. The biophysical analysis showed that the stockpiled biosolids were chemically similar to well-matured composts in nutritional values and can be classed as Grade „Bb‟ with respect to pathogens and contaminants (NZWWA, 2003). The community engagement process considered the biophysical analysis alongside economic costing, environmental impact and social and cultural preferences to discuss the fate of the biosolids. The participants supported three reuse options for the stockpiled biosolids (in order of preference): 1. application to exotic forest plantations; 2. application to rehabilitate land with native plants; and 3. composting biosolids (both open air composting and vermicomposting) prior to being sold. Although the exotic plantation application option received the most support of the individual options, there was a strong community preference for further investigation into approaches.

Bibliographic information

Langer L., Ataria J., Leckie A., BakerV.,Horswell J., Yao R., McDevitt J., Goven J., Solomon R., Tremblay L., Northcott G., Xue J., Ross C. and Robinson B. (2013). Kaikōura case study: community engagement to determine biosolids reuse Centre for Integrated Biowaste Research

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