2009 waste volumes lowest for 25 years

The annual amount of waste sent to landfill in 2009 by Canterbury residents in New Zealand was the lowest in 25 years.

Gill Cox, chairman of Transwaste Canterbury, says this demonstrates the impact of the current economic conditions on Canterbury businesses.

Cox says total residual waste going to the Canterbury landfill at Kate Valley during 2009 was 231,123 tonnes, 52,044 tonnes less than in 2008.

“This annual volume is lower than all annual volumes sent to landfill from the contributing areas since 1985, the first year of operation of the Burwood landfill in Christchurch, when reliable records began,” he says. The previous lowest annual volume was 240,867 in 1986.

“This is a huge decrease in one year and shows the impact economic conditions have had on business activity, particularly in the development sector. Most of the sudden drop occurred in the last three months of 2008 and the first three months of 2009 as the world economic conditions began to affect businesses and development in Canterbury. Further reduction occurred during the April to June period as the new Christchurch domestic waste collection system became operational.

“It is clear from the rapid drop in commercial waste volumes in the last quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 that manufacturing, construction and development activity has been notably less than in recent years,” said Cox.

The economic boom in Canterbury is believed to be the main reason waste volumes increased substantially over the 2001 to 2005 period, where annual waste to landfill increased by around 50,000 tonnes, despite record recycling volumes in the same period. The recent drop has returned waste volumes to a lower level than prior to the boom.

The recent waste volume reduction has coincided with a period of low prices for recyclable material diverted or salvaged from the waste stream, due to reduced demand for such material overseas. The combination of low commodity prices and lower waste volumes has put pressure on transfer stations and other recyclers during the year, as evidenced by the collapse of Meta NZ in Christchurch.

The dramatic effect of the economic downturn, combined with the wide variety of ongoing effective recycling initiatives in the region, has reduced the annual amount of residual waste generated by Canterbury people from 630 kilograms per person three years ago to 464 kilograms today, a 26% drop. Statistics NZ estimates 498,200 people live in the contributing area of Kate Valley Landfill.