Northland awash with litter with increase in dumping over the last three years

Cigarette butts were the most prevalent item collected in Northland during the National Litter Audit. Photo / Tania Whyte

A leading environmental campaigner in Northland isn’t surprised by a national report that shows an overall increase in litter over the past three years - a trend that’s also mirrored nationally.

Whangārei District Councillor Nicholas Connop, who runs the Love Whangārei monthly clean-ups with partner Karen Lee, said the audit was a timely reminder we each have a responsibility to the natural environment around us and how we have impacted our world.

He was reacting to a National Litter Audit by Keep New Zealand Beautiful that shows the litter problem in the country has grown worse since 2019, with the total number of items, estimated volume and weight of litter all increasing in 2022.

Overall, litter volume per 1000 sq m in Northland increased by 5.61 litres since 2019 and the biggest hike was at industrial and residential sites.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful contracted experienced environmental field researchers, who undertook the audit last year and compiled data through the physical inspection and visual counting of litter found.

Additional litter material classifications were added or separated out in the 2022 audit to reflect the waste streams created by the Covid-19 pandemic and the change to New Zealander’s lifestyles since 2019, including personal protection equipment (PPE) items, vaping devices and refill equipment.

A minimum of five areas per local authority were audited, across a mix of site types: public recreational spaces, car parks, industrial, residential and retail sites, as well as a mix of railways and highways.

In Northland, cigarette butts/vaping (26 items) and plastic (25 items) were the most prevalent items collected mostly at retail sites but contributed to low litter volumes.

Far North District had the most litter by weight and Whangārei the most by volume.

The biggest increase in the litter was at residential and industrial sites in Northland. Photo / Tania Whyte

Glass beer bottles under 750ml of all colours were the heaviest litter item nationally, except in Northland where plastic bottles had the heaviest weights.

The litter weight increased slightly, from 0.29kg to 0.78kg over the same period.

The audit said overall, the average number of litter items per 1000 sq m across 16 sites in Northland was 86, the average estimated volume of litter was 9.20 litre and the weight was 0.78kg over the same area.

Connop said it was great to have actual data to show that we all needed to improve how we dealt with our waste.

The report’s release coincides with a consultation on the Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2023, currently under way by the Whangarei District Council.

Last year, WDC said nearly 14,000 tonnes of material was diverted from landfill into the district. However, just over 55,000 tonnes of waste is still sent from Whangarei to the Puwera Landfill.

Public submissions on the draft plan close on April 26 and the final plan is expected to be adopted at a WDC meeting on June 29.

Nicholas Connop isn't surprised by a National Litter Audit that shows an overall increase in litter across Northland in the last three years. Photo / NZME

Connop said if people valued the environment, they would look after it.

“We must remember that it comes down to personal responsibility for how we deal with the waste we create by purchasing a product, and it’s up to the companies to support their customers by improving systems to deal with the waste that comes from using the product.

“If people continue to fly tip and in difficult locations, the cost to deal with these issues goes up, so the rates to deal with this have to go up to cover the cost. If we expect someone else to do something for us, we have to pay for that service,” he said. Northland’s councils spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on clearing up fly-tipping.

Retail sites had the highest number of litter items (316) per 1000 sq m, followed by residential (190), industrial (122) and car parks (66).

The number of litter items collected in Northland increased slightly— from 71 in 2019 to 86 at all sites except at public recreational spaces.

Chief executive of Keep New Zealand Beautiful Heather Saunderson said despite the efforts of tidy Kiwis nationwide, the audit results spoke to the fiction of New Zealand’s clean green image and illustrated the need for government, industry and people to take immediate action.

Plastic was the most prevalent main litter found nationally, with a 72.4 per cent increase since 2019.

Saunderson said the importance of the audit for land and ocean litter management was immense. “The findings will help inform national and local policy development, guide industry strategies and enable Keep New Zealand Beautiful to identify the originators and activities that generate land and marine litter, and to guide our efforts accordingly.”