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thth Apr - 16 10 Apr 2018 27 Jan - 3rdthFeb 2014
FIRST ON THE STREET
No No 434 645
LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN
9 J 3 O IN SI BS D E
enquiries@lwb.co.nz
For years, refuse collection has worked on a very simple model. Residents put their rubbish in blue bin bags on the street and refuse collectors take it to landfill, where it sits in a large hole and can take between two months and thousands of years to break down. Some materials never break down at all. Even organic and compostable items don’t break down well in landfill. A lot of material is pressed into landfill sites to save space, causing a lack of oxygen. This means organic matter undergoes anaerobic decomposition and generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Organic materials make up about 16% of all waste going to landfill each year and that figure will probably increase as the region’s population continues to expand. But, if it’s separated from inorganic materials, organic matter is relatively simple to deal with. In Queenstown, where land is at a premium and our main industries rely partly on New Zealand’s ‘clean, green’ image, it’s a shame we’re filling the land full of rubbish. From methane gas and chemicals leaching into the ground to the complete waste of what could be valuable land, the traditional landfill model is sure to hurt Queenstown’s growth and development in the future. It was great to hear last week that council have finally fleshed-out plans for better waste management in the region. The draft Waste Minimisation and Management Plan (WMMP) and other information is available on the council website and the public have until the end of the month to submit feedback.
Dave Gardiner, Sarena Glass and Tim McBride at Queenstown’s Tennis Clubs annual fundraising day on Saturday. (Photo: Jodi Walters)
There’s a few options, but the council’s preferred one focusses on reducing organic waste going to landfill and better management of glass recycling – something the council has been criticised for in the past. Despite residents putting glass into their recycling bins, since 2016 glass has been heading straight to landfill. There are a number of colour-sorted bottle bins around the region where glass is sent to a recycling centre, but it’s a token effort which won’t make much of a dent in the amount of waste currently heading to landfill. Reducing waste is key and the WMMP seems like a well-rounded and ambitious plan to achieve that – even suggesting that the Wakatipu Basin could one day be a zero-waste community.
PUB QUIZ PUB QUIZ
That it has taken this long to propose a better plan for waste management is disappointing. Countries like Austria, Switzerland and Germany are already light years ahead of us in this respect. Even our neighbours in Wanaka are well ahead of the Wakatipu with recycling particularly glass which is all colour sorted and fully recycled. Better recycling and waste reduction is not simply about protecting New Zealand’s ‘clean, green’ image for the tourism business – it’s about protecting where we live. Sweeping rubbish under the proverbial carpet is a short-term solution that we’re already stretching the limits of. It’s time the community had a serious, well-though-out plan to reduce waste and protect our local environment. Bethany G. Rogers Geordie Off-Shore
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RENTAL PROPERTIES
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A Few Morning Mostly Cloudy & Light Snow at Times Showers then Fine
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Rain. Northwesterly
Cloudy Periods. Southerly
Cloudy. Little Wind
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One or Two Showers.