It might sound like a rubbish job for most, but working with waste and recycling has become a true passion for Nick Roozenburg.

Today the Tauranga City Council solid waste manager calls time on a 29-year career, with 15 clicks spent helping shape the city's waste minimisation sector for the future.

Tauranga City Council solid waste manager Nick Roozenburg at the Maleme Street Transfer Station. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

But Nick admits it wasn't a planned career choice. He spent 14 years as a roading designer before the 1989 amalgamation of the Tauranga and Mount Maunganui Borough councils forced him to scope out a new position.

'I didn't think I would be in solid waste for 15 years. In the old days the roading engineers would run the little council tips because it was basically compaction, excavation and machines and stuff,” says the 65-year-old.

'But it has grown into its own science; now there are engineered landfills with proper environmental controls and resource consent. I enjoyed that more structure, technical side of things.”

During his time as a council employee Nick's helped close two rubbish tips in the city – Te Maunga and Cambridge Road – and build two transfer stations.

TCC was one of the first councils in New Zealand to operate user pays transfer stations on the basis rates funding generates more waste.

Dumped rubbish recovery and closed landfills are funded by TCC rates – but rubbish collection, composting and transfer stations are paid for by user charges or rental from facilities.

In the last decade council has sent 75,000 tonnes of waste to landfill, yet as the population grows the annual tally is holding steady – showing people are beginning to take rubbish and recycling seriously, says Nick.

'Now, instead of burying stuff, we are concentrating on diverting, recycling and composting so we have built a nice composting site out at Te Maunga.”

With his gold card in hand, Nick says colleagues' jibes they'll be calling him for expert advice don't quite fit into his laid back plans.

'To be honest I'm retiring to retire, and do all of the things that I don't have time to do.

'I'm quite a keen road cyclist and mountain biker; I've got a couple of new bikes I really need to try. And I don't use my boat enough for fishing.”