Overflowing landfills bear brunt of Christmas waste

Friday, 27 December 2019

After Christmas and Boxing Day our hearts, houses and bellies are full - but so are our landfills.

Many landfills around New Zealand are reaching capacity and fast fashion, unwanted gifts, packaging, and food waste are filling them up fast.

Wellington City Council spokeswoman Victoria Barton-Chapple said December was a particularly busy time for the waste world, with plenty of packaging making its way to Wellington's Southern Landfill and the Oji Recycling plant.

'Food waste is likely to be higher around this period too,' she said.

* Consumers hate plastic, but the satisfaction of avoiding it won't save the planet

* Littered takeout containers could fill 25 rugby fields

Boxing Day sales can be bad news for the environment.

* Penguin nests full of plastic**

The Southern Landfill is reaching capacity with as little as four years left until it's full.

But not all of it is junk and unwanted gifts - in 2018 food accounted for 32 per cent of what had been put in kerbside bins by Wellington households.

'If there's food left over, the City Mission and Salvation Army are always grateful for supplies over this busy time.'

Many organisations accepted unloved gifts, including Wellington's own Tip Shop, which recently cleaned up a giant toy donkey for re-homing, she said.

There's even a solution for the city's Christmas trees - until January 31 real Christmas trees will be accepted free at the Recycle Centre, which would be composted at Capital Compost.

Reducing waste in the first instance was the most important step.

'We encourage everyone to … embrace the make, bake, recycle philosophy for their loved ones around Christmas holidays.'

Gifting time, skills or an experience to share together was a great zero-waste idea, she said.

Barton-Chapple said this year was particularly busy with 'Kondo-mania' - people throwing away their possessions in the spirit of de-cluttering guru Marie Condo.

In 2009 textile waste sent to the Southern Landfill totalled 2346 tonnes,. By 2018 that had almost doubled to 4769 tonnes.

'Summer is also a busy time for events, so we work with organisers to further reduce waste by diverting it from landfill through composting and recycling,' Barton-Chapple said.

'This is done by having waste station monitors to assist with waste diversion, trialling water stations for free water refills to motivate event goers to bring their own bottles, and encouraging vendors to use compostable serving ware.'

The Auckland Council has offered its advice for reducing waste, including reusing leftovers, planting a native tree, or buying secondhand.

Auckland councillor Richard Hills said over summer many would be at the beach, in the bush or at the park in the environment.

“We can all do our bit to protect our environment, by doing things like reducing our waste, reporting illegal dumping, stop flushing wet wipes and taking our rubbish home at the end of the day out.”