The future of waste
Waste doesn't disappear. It has to be managed safely, responsibly and for the long term.
Every day, rubbish is collected from homes, businesses and transfer stations across the Taupō District. Managing that waste safely is an essential public service and a responsibility that continues long after the rubbish truck has passed by.
Taupō District Council is responsible for looking after the 30,000 tonnes of waste produced in the Taupō District annually. The waste has to be looked after for years into the future so that it doesn’t contaminate the environment or harm humans, wildlife, soil or marine life.
To understand what’s happening, it’s important to understand just exactly what we do, how, and why.
What we do now
No matter where you live in the district, all your rubbish and recycling ends up at the Broadlands Road Landfill & Resource Recovery Centre in Taupō (pictured above), the main hub for collecting waste from all over the district.
The site, on council-owned land, exists to protect public health and te taiao (the environment). Managing waste responsibly and protecting the whenua are at the heart of how we manage the site.
The Broadlands Road Landfill & Resource Recovery Centre is divided into two distinct areas. Recycling and waste diversion is handled at the Resource Recovery Centre, just inside the main gate. The landfill itself is located further away. While recycling is diverted into appropriate streams, the leftover rubbish is buried at the landfill to break down.
How modern landfills work
With a growing population, we have a legal and moral responsibility to find practical, long-term solutions for managing waste in the district.
As well as taking all the waste from the Taupō District, the Broadlands Road landfill also takes commercial rubbish from businesses, shops, cafes and schools. It works out about 30,000 tonnes each year - enough to fill the leisure pool at the AC Baths about 260 times over!
It is a Class 1 landfill, the highest level possible, and operates under a resource consent from Waikato Regional Council to strict environmental standards.
While recycling is diverted into appropriate streams, the leftover rubbish is buried at the landfill to break down. The site is carefully managed and covered daily to deter pests and birds.
The main impact of landfills is that they produce liquid runoff known as leachate. To protect waterways and Lake Taupo, the landfill is lined with an impermeable protective liner. Leachate is collected, stored in a lined pond and treated through Taupo’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.
We have 11 groundwater monitoring bores and perform regular testing to ensure no leachate is escaping. This gives us confidence that the site meets its resource consent conditions and environmental standards.
Mount Tauhara
The council recognises and respects that the landfill site is at the base of Mt Tauhara which is a sacred taonga to local iwi and hapu; and that a landfill in this location is culturally offensive.
Council has engaged in significant conversations with the Te Hikuwai hapu collective and respects the hapu’s view. We recognise the need to move the landfill off this site as soon as a cost-effective solution can be found, but this will take many years.
What's the future for waste management
Because waste continues to be generated every day, Council must ensure there is a safe and lawful way to manage it.
Broadlands Road landfill is consented for use until December 2027. Over the past two years Council has been considering whether to apply to renew the resource consent or look for an alternative waste management method.
The alternatives include:
- Trucking our rubbish out of the district to a different landfill; or
- Finding a different site to operate a landfill.
Both these options are more expensive and would have a significant impact on rates. Option 2 would also take a minimum of 15 years to find a suitable site, assuming one exists, and then build a new landfill to strict environmental standards.
Council has applied to Waikato Regional Council for a resource consent to keep operating Broadlands Rd landfill at its current site for up to 30 years. This decision will take several months.
Even if consent is granted, at current fill rates the landfill will be full by 2058 and cannot physically be extended. During this time, we will work with other councils to look for a regional waste disposal solution; or for an alternative option such as transporting waste out of the district.
For now, nothing changes
- Broadlands Road Landfill and resource recovery centre, and the district-wide transfer stations, will continue to be fully operational.
- Rubbish and recycling kerbside collections continue.
- No current changes to costs, bin stickers or rates.
Reducing waste
The less waste sent to landfill, the better. Everyone can do their bit to manage waste responsibly, for ourselves, our environment, and our future generations.
Council provides many tools to help residents and businesses divert or minimise waste. There are lots of alternatives to just throwing things away, like composting, donating, bringing items to a local Repair Café, and using the kerbside recycling collection services.
Find out more about our waste minimisation initiatives and recycling in the Taupō District.
Keeping waste costs down
Waste is expensive to manage however Taupō District Council currently has one of the lowest landfill disposal charges in the central North Island.
