Sustainable Partnership a Core Focus for WasteMINZ Conference
Looking for a venue that could not only cater to a large national audience but do so in a way that met the sustainability aspirations of the organisation and its members, Te Pae Christchurch ticked a lot of boxes for WasteMINZ.
In early June 2025, WasteMINZ held its annual conference at Te Pae Christchurch, attracting 565 attendees as well as over 40 exhibitors.
WasteMINZ is New Zealand’s leading professional body for waste management, resource recovery and contaminated land management. WasteMINZ has a nationwide membership of over 1500 members – from small operators and not-for-profits to local and central government and large businesses.
Meeting key requirements
WasteMINZ chief executive Nic Quilty says the industry body had several key requirements when looking to make a return to the South Island Te Waipounamu for the first time since 2018.
“In an ideal world we would have a fit for purpose venue, where it's easy to get in and out of, the flights are reasonable, and accommodation is within walking distance. Te Pae Christchurch was the best option for us because all those pieces stacked up,” says Nic. “And Te Pae's a beautiful venue – so stunning. It’s probably the nicest venue we've held a conference in.”
The conference utilised a full range of the venue’s facilities, including the Exhibition Halls for an industry expo, the Rivers Room for the welcome, plenary sessions and keynote speakers and the Dobson and Bealey meeting rooms for break-out sessions and workshops. A gala dinner and awards for excellence were also held in the Rivers Room.
“Everyone loved the venue,” says WasteMINZ membership and events manager, Nadja Hirzel. “They loved the layout and the feel of it and said that it was a really smooth operation.”
“The operations team, from the catering to the guest services, were amazing. They were super friendly and responsive – it felt like nothing really was too difficult.”
Nadja says that approach was also reflected in the response conference organisers and delegates had from the city’s hospitality and accommodation sector.
“I get the feeling that it's really important for people there to have visitors come into the city and feel really welcome.”
Sustainability commitment
WasteMINZ puts a strong emphasis on demonstrating their commitment to reducing waste at the event.
WasteMINZ sector projects manager Charlotte Whiter says WasteMINZ approached Te Pae Christchurch with a ‘wish list for the perfect event’ from a sustainability perspective.
“From that point of view, they already had a huge amount of those systems in place, from diverting waste to reporting.” says Charlotte.
WasteMINZ partnered with Te Pae Christchurch – a Net Carbon Zero certified venue – on a range of sustainability elements for the conference. This included separation of waste materials generated during event pack-in, operation and pack-out, collecting appropriate materials for recycling and repurposing food waste using the organisation’s food dehydrator, which creates organic compost for donation to community gardens.
Te Pae Christchurch also partnered with local community organisation Kairos Food Rescue to collect, package and store any reusable surplus food from the conference. Kairos supplies rescued food to local food banks and distributes it through its free store.
Popular choice
Nic says despite the current economic climate, attendance at the conference was above their expectations.
“With the current cost of living, we didn't know if people would travel,” says Nic. “But we were very, very pleasantly surprised when the registrations kept coming in.”
Te Pae Christchurch, and the opportunity to visit the city was one of the drawcards for attendees.
“In terms of location, I think it was great for us and our members. The people who attended the conference loved the venue,” says Nic.
“We do need to get to the South Island every few years, so Te Pae would definitely be the place that we'd go when we do this again.”
Industry support
Owned on behalf of local ratepayers by Christchurch City Holdings Limited, EcoCentral manages the city’s resource recovery, waste disposal and recycling, as well as working to minimise waste in the Canterbury region.
EcoCentral Commercial Manager Brandon Craine says as well as providing both formal and informal opportunities to discuss issues of importance, the WasteMINZ event – the premier conference for the waste industry – also “showcases innovative advances being made that could benefit the entire sector.”
“While it had been some time since the WasteMINZ conference was held in the South Island, having such a great facility available in Te Pae Christchurch enabled the conference to come to the region,” says Brandon.
“This gives a number of organisations the ability to attend and to also showcase their services to a wider audience, which is harder to achieve when the conference is in the North Island, due to cost.”
