WM New Zealand | 200,000 tonnes of materials recycled

Worker in orange high visability jacket checking WM New Zealand truck

Executive Summary

Environmental performance is central to WM New Zealand’s commercial and operational success. Its WM Porohita strategy drives circularity, carbon neutrality by 2050, and waste minimisation. Partnering with Toitū provides verified measurement and reporting, strengthening stakeholder confidence and credibility. This transparency not only reinforces accountability but also supports greater market access, enabling WM to meet procurement and customer expectations while maintaining leadership in New Zealand’s waste sector.

Organisation Overview

An ambition for waste circularity and carbon neutrality

WM New Zealand is one of Aotearoa’s leading materials recovery, recycling, and waste management providers, with over 2,000 team members across 90+ locations. Each year, the company collects more than one million tonnes of waste and recycles over 200,000 tonnes, playing a central role in New Zealand’s resource recovery system.

It operates the country’s largest commercial electric truck fleet, the largest composting facilities, and the largest waste-to-energy operations, powered by electricity generated from captured landfill gas. Innovation and sustainability are central to its operations, with a continuous focus on reducing, recovering, and repurposing waste.

In 2023, WM New Zealand launched WM Porohita — meaning “to be circular” — a comprehensive sustainability strategy targeting carbon neutrality by 2050, waste minimisation, biogas capture, workplace excellence, and partnerships that drive innovative, sustainable solutions.

The Challenge

Reduce risk, meet rising regulations and build stakeholder confidence

As one of New Zealand’s largest waste and resource recovery providers, WM New Zealand faced significant operational complexity and a substantial emissions footprint. Transport, landfill operations, and energy use were central to the business model, making decarbonisation both a strategic risk and an opportunity.

Externally, expectations were rising. Customers — particularly corporates and public sector organisations — increasingly sought credible emissions data, verified reporting, and alignment with international climate standards. Evolving regulations and carbon pricing signalled a future in which emissions performance would have a direct financial impact.

Internally, sustainability needed to move from aspiration to operational reality — embedded across a nationwide workforce and integrated into core decision-making. The challenge was clear: how to reduce emissions at scale, maintain commercial performance, and build stakeholder confidence in a sector fundamental to New Zealand’s low-carbon economy.

Strategic Partnership

Robust climate credentials verified to ISO standards

WM New Zealand partnered with Toitū to bring rigour, credibility, and transparency to its decarbonisation journey. As a pioneer in emissions measurement in the waste sector since 2016, the company sought a strategic partner to help measure and verify carbon data, set science-aligned reduction targets, and demonstrate progress over time.

Toitū’s expertise enabled WM New Zealand to translate environmental commitments into measurable business outcomes. Verified reporting strengthened stakeholder confidence, enhanced climate leadership credentials, and aligned with the company’s focus on operational sustainability and innovation. For customers, employees, and investors, the partnership demonstrates that WM New Zealand’s carbon management is credible, measurable, and accountable — reinforcing its reputation as a responsible industry leader.

The Approach

Electrification, renewable energy capture, and efficiency improvements

Working closely with Toitū, WM New Zealand integrated decarbonisation into core operations using the Toitū Carbon Reduce programme materials. The process began with establishing a verified emissions baseline and completing an audited carbon reduction plan. Operational initiatives included fleet electrification, renewable energy capture from landfill gas, and efficiency improvements across sites.

Toitū provided guidance on science-aligned target setting, measurement processes, and compliance with ISO 14064-1 standards, while cross-functional collaboration embedded accountability across the business. Internally, sustainability champions, site carbon budgets, and the Carbon Footprint Committee ensured awareness and ownership of environmental performance. Staff education and leadership advocacy created a culture where sustainability was integrated into daily decision-making and operations.

More recently, WM New Zealand have strengthened supply chain emissions accuracy through Toitū’s Carbon Compatible Reporting service. Equipping customers with verified data to support their own compliance and reporting obligations.

The Impact

Competitive advantage and market leadership

The partnership with Toitū has delivered measurable and strategic benefits across emissions, operations, and environmental leadership. By the end of 2024, WM New Zealand’s operational emissions were 47,000 tCO₂e, down 20% from the 2020 baseline. Its electric truck fleet has now travelled over 3 million kilometres. Ongoing verified reporting provides the company with a competitive edge in procurement, greater customer loyalty and ongoing market leadership.

WM New Zealand has also advanced circular and environmental initiatives at scale:

Over 250k tonnes of materials were recovered through recycling, composting, and reuse.
New Zealand’s first large-scale PVC recycling facility (PRNZ) was opened.
Project Reclaim removed 69k tonnes of coastal legacy waste in Waitaki.
Biodiversity protection through baseline surveys, skink relocations, and eDNA sampling.
Landfill operations achieved 92% gas capture across large, engineered sites.

In 2022, the company began offering verified supplier emissions data aligned with international standards — enabling customers to improve the accuracy of their own Scope 3 reporting. The methodology of their reports has been improved year on year, ensuring they continue to meet evolving customer demands and international standards.

Beyond the numbers, staff engagement and pride in sustainability have grown, and market recognition as a sector leader in decarbonisation has strengthened the company’s reputation. Annual Toitū Carbon Reduce certification continues to underpin transparency and credibility, ensuring environmental progress aligns with strategic business objectives.

Client Quotes

“Toitū certification helps us accurately measure and report our progress, supporting our commitment to transparency and accountability. This approach allows us to show tangible results and maintain stakeholder trust. People can have more than faith that we do what we say we will.”

Executive General Manager Strategy & Circular Services, Ingrid Cronin-Knight

“Working with Toitu. It's been an easy experience for us because they’re the people who know what to measure, they give you the emissions targets guidance and help improve your business. I’ve found the experience great.”

Managing Director, Evan Maehl

What’s Next

Expanding fleet electrification, integrating supply chain emissions

WM New Zealand continues to advance its decarbonisation and sustainability ambitions. Key priorities include expanding fleet electrification, integrating Scope 3 emissions - the carbon impact of its supply chain and wider operations - through the Toitū Carbon Reduce programme, and further embedding circular economy principles across operations.

The company is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in operational emissions by 2050. Verified measurement and reporting through Toitū’s climate certification will provide ongoing accountability and transparency, supporting long-term strategic goals, operational resilience, and leadership in New Zealand’s transition to a low-carbon, circular economy.