Councils have warned the higher cost of waste disposal under the Emissions Trading Scheme will lead to illegal rubbish dumping and rates rises. Three Hawke's Bay councils have made submissions to the Ministry for the Environment saying municipal landfills should have been left out of the scheme. The extra costs would bepassed directly on to ratepayers through higher rates and higher charges for disposing of rubbish, the councils said. Residents unwilling to pay would be more likely to dump their waste illegally, burn it, or bury it in non-monitored farm dumps. Hastings District Council technical engineering manager Martin Jarvis said disposal costs were likely to increase by between 17 and 43 per cent in the district. "These are costs we'll have to pass directly on, we'll have to put the price up at the gate, simple as that," he said. Residents pay for waste collection through rates, charges for rubbish bags, and dumping fees at transfer stations. Mr Jarvis said the waste sector had already cut emissions, bettering the Kyoto Protocol target of reaching 1990 levels. "We're still reducing so we just don't know why they want to keep targeting us when we're already below Kyoto levels," he said. More illegal dumping would leave ratepayers saddled with greater clean-up costs, and carried environmental risks. Central Hawke's Bay District Council utilities manager Brett Way said potential problems included contamination of waterways from dumped and buried waste, pollution from rubbish fires, and the spread of noxious weeds from garden waste.
Napier City Council's submission said there was "no doubt" extra costs would be passed on to the community. "The council currently has some problems with illegal dumping and this will only become more of an issue with a jump in disposal charges." The view has been backed by Local Government New Zealand, which said the ETS was expected to bring an increase in dumping and related costs for councils.
A spokesman for the Ministry said any costs incurred will depend on what steps operators have taken to reduce emissions. Obligations could be significantly reduced if a waste disposal facility collects and destroys methane, or recycles or composts waste.
