Rubbish is a growing issue in NZ for a number of reasons
Firstly, were running out of places to put it.
Every year, the rubbish we created would fill the Westpac Staduim, twice over
Currently, all that rubbish gets buried in landfills, but even now we don't have enough of them. Finding suitable locations for new ones in future will be hard, and no-one wants to have one next door.
Secondly it takes centuries to break down
It takes hundred of years to break down plastic, steel, aluminium and even paper once in a landfill. Garden waste and kitchen scraps break down into methane, a flammable greenhouse gas. Green waste also combines with water to form a poison called leachate that can contaminate groundwater. Leachate has to be collected and treated which is very expensive.
The problem won't go away
We can't keep burying rubbish and just hoping the problem will go away. It won't. Reducing, recycling, reusing and composting are the keys, and the more you do, the bigger the difference you can make.
The rubbish problem
In the year July 2001 - June 2002, 909,500 tonnes of waste was disposed (mainly to landfills) within the Auckland region.
This rubbish is made up of domestic rubbish, commercial/business waste, special waste (mainly treated hazardous wastes) and some waste trucked in from outside the region. This does not include waste which goes to cleanfills, or is recycled, or dealt with in other ways.
Where does all this rubbish go?
Non recyclable household waste collected at the gate goes straight to landfill.
Landfills in the Auckland region are:
Claris Landfill, Great Barrier Island
Greenmount Landfill, East Tamaki
Redvale Landfill, North Shore
Whitford Landfill, Manukau.
Why does waste matter?
Wasting resources is bad business. It costs you money and it costs the environment.
Are New Zealanders efficient and thrifty?
No!
Approximately 93 percent of the materials we use never end up in saleable products at all but are discarded during the production process.
Approximately 80 percent of what we produce is discarded after a single use.
For example Aucklanders are producing three times the amount of rubbish per person than we did 20 years ago.
New Zealand's waste problem is large and growing.
Nationally we dispose of 3.4 million tonnes of rubbish into landfills per year.
Around 282 thousand tonnes of hazardous waste is put into landfill each year.
Why aren't landfills a good way of dealing with our rubbish?
Burning rubbish isn't a solution - it pollutes the air and may release toxic substances. Composting and recycling are healthier option for everyone.
While landfills effectively contain our rubbish, did you know that:
rubbish doesn't break down very well in a landfill. Plastic, steel, aluminium and even paper and cardboard take tens or hundreds of years to break down. This is because the oxygen isnt easily accessed, which helps break down substance
While modern landfills don't tend to cause dust or odour problems, nobody wants to live near one
and for good reason
As garden rubbish and kitchen scraps break down in a landfill they produce methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (20 times worse than carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas) and can reach explosive concentrations in enclosed spaces such as basements.
Firstly, were running out of places to put it.
Every year, the rubbish we created would fill the Westpac Staduim, twice over
Currently, all that rubbish gets buried in landfills, but even now we don't have enough of them. Finding suitable locations for new ones in future will be hard, and no-one wants to have one next door.
Secondly it takes centuries to break down
It takes hundred of years to break down plastic, steel, aluminium and even paper once in a landfill. Garden waste and kitchen scraps break down into methane, a flammable greenhouse gas. Green waste also combines with water to form a poison called leachate that can contaminate groundwater. Leachate has to be collected and treated which is very expensive.
The problem won't go away
We can't keep burying rubbish and just hoping the problem will go away. It won't. Reducing, recycling, reusing and composting are the keys, and the more you do, the bigger the difference you can make.
The rubbish problem
In the year July 2001 - June 2002, 909,500 tonnes of waste was disposed (mainly to landfills) within the Auckland region.
This rubbish is made up of domestic rubbish, commercial/business waste, special waste (mainly treated hazardous wastes) and some waste trucked in from outside the region. This does not include waste which goes to cleanfills, or is recycled, or dealt with in other ways.
Where does all this rubbish go?
Non recyclable household waste collected at the gate goes straight to landfill.
Landfills in the Auckland region are:
Claris Landfill, Great Barrier Island
Greenmount Landfill, East Tamaki
Redvale Landfill, North Shore
Whitford Landfill, Manukau.
Why does waste matter?
Wasting resources is bad business. It costs you money and it costs the environment.
Are New Zealanders efficient and thrifty?
No!
Approximately 93 percent of the materials we use never end up in saleable products at all but are discarded during the production process.
Approximately 80 percent of what we produce is discarded after a single use.
For example Aucklanders are producing three times the amount of rubbish per person than we did 20 years ago.
New Zealand's waste problem is large and growing.
Nationally we dispose of 3.4 million tonnes of rubbish into landfills per year.
Around 282 thousand tonnes of hazardous waste is put into landfill each year.
Why aren't landfills a good way of dealing with our rubbish?
Burning rubbish isn't a solution - it pollutes the air and may release toxic substances. Composting and recycling are healthier option for everyone.
While landfills effectively contain our rubbish, did you know that:
rubbish doesn't break down very well in a landfill. Plastic, steel, aluminium and even paper and cardboard take tens or hundreds of years to break down. This is because the oxygen isnt easily accessed, which helps break down substance
While modern landfills don't tend to cause dust or odour problems, nobody wants to live near one
and for good reason
As garden rubbish and kitchen scraps break down in a landfill they produce methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (20 times worse than carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas) and can reach explosive concentrations in enclosed spaces such as basements.
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