The Redvale landfill at Dairy Flat has been open since 1993 and takes about half of all of Auckland's landfill waste.
The Redvale landfill at Dairy Flat has been open since 1993 and takes about half of all of Auckland's landfill waste.
Auckland’s potentially looming rubbish crisis may be averted now public feedback on what to do has been received.
Waste Management New Zealand’s consultation favoured keeping the country’s biggest tip, Redvale, open and ‘rebalancing use’ of existing dumps.
Residents near Redvale raised health concerns, and Waste Management will take feedback to come up with a proposal, which will be subject to further consultation.
A feared rubbish crisis in Auckland may be averted now the results of public consultation on what to do about the region’s shrinking landfill space have been revealed.
Waste Management New Zealand’s consultation findings document said the feedback received favoured keeping Redvale Landfill open for longer and “rebalancing use” of all existing rubbish dumps.
Waste Management also said it would continue to drive waste minimisation and more “recovery” efforts to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to the tip.
The Redvale landfill at Dairy Flat has been open since 1993 and takes about half of all of Auckland's landfill waste.
And while the company is deciding on the best option, it has heard from residents living near Redvale Landfill.
They have raised health concerns over the groundwater and air quality, the tip’s proximity to a primary school, how it attracted vermin, and a feared impact on property prices.
“Community input has provided valuable insight into how different parts of Auckland view the options and what matters most to different groups,” Waste Management said.
“While not every view can be acted upon directly, the submissions help us understand expectations, concerns, and opportunities.
“[Waste Management] believes that without the adoption of an appropriate solution, Auckland faces a real risk of running out of landfill space before the replacement facility (Auckland Regional Landfill [at Wayby Valley] is available, placing higher costs on the community, potentially disrupting services and increasing illegal dumping.”
The best way to avoid this was to try to make better use of current dumps, the firm said.
“Rebalancing use of existing landfills currently stands out as the most workable option at this stage because it; can be delivered within the required timeframe, uses existing infrastructure, provides operational certainty while longer-term solutions are developed and has been independently assessed as lower-risk than untested alternatives,” the company said.
Other options, finding a new landfill and trying alternate technologies like incinerating rubbish, have essentially been disregarded.
“Feedback supporting [those] options ... did not provide sufficient evidence that suggested the independent evaluation of the solution ... was incorrect.”
Waste Management said it would now write a more specific proposal for consultation.
“Once the option is identified and confirmed and an appropriate consenting strategy is determined, further consultation will be undertaken,” it said.
The Auckland Regional Landfill proposal is a replacement for Redvale. It gained resource consent in 2021 but has been subject to multiple appeals. If consents had progressed “as anticipated”, it would have been ready to be used in 2028, Waste Management said.
Redvale Landfill, which started running in 1993, takes about half of all Auckland’s waste, some 600,000 tonnes a year. It covers 160ha, of which 56ha is permitted for waste.
Raphael Franksis an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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