Pressures

Waste is generated by many human activities that are part of everyday living. The environmental effects of waste vary with the toxicity and quantity produced and includes the contamination of soil, rivers and groundwater. Waste can exist in a solid, gaseous or liquid form. This chapter deals only with solid waste.

Uncontrolled disposal of waste can have a significant adverse effect on the natural environment, including surface and groundwater, soil and air. Small rubbish dumps, such as farm dumps are difficult to identify and control. Council has made this form of dumping illegal given the significant adverse environmental effects that can occur.

Key Issues

• Waste minimisation
• Effective control of private solid waste disposal
• Effect of solid waste storage and disposal on the environment

The majority of waste in the District is disposed of via landfills. The effects of landfills include odour, pests, reduced amenity values and groundwater and surface-water contamination from leachate. Eventually, landfills reach capacity and establishing a new landfill is a complex, costly and time-consuming process.

The Matamata-Piako District has a number of large industries, including dairy processing, chemical manufacturing, fertiliser manufacturing and meat processing. All these industries influence the quantity and type of waste generated in the district.

State

Area of land designated for landfills

Council has designated three areas in the District for waste disposal, occupying the following areas :

The Waihou landfill closed in 1995. Waste from the Waihou transfer station is disposed of at the Matamata landfill.

Total quantity of waste disposed to the fills

The Matamata-Piako waste stream can be separated into three broad categories;

• General – material requiring landfilling
• Greenwaste – organic plant material suitable for composting
• Construction and Soil – material suitable for use as landfill cover and/or disposal to a cleanfill site.

The Matamata-Piako District disposed of a total of 23,500 tonnes of waste including green waste and cleanfill in 1995 "engineered" landfills. Using the 1996 census data, this equates to 790kg of waste per person for 1996. If green waste and cleanfill are excluded, the waste produced per person reduces to 340kg per person. The Environment Waikato State of the Environment Report estimates that based upon a survey of seven Councils within the Region, each person within the Waikato Region generates 598kg 1 of waste per year, significantly more than the Matamata-Piako District average of 340kg.