Change to landfill fees due to Central Govt. charges, and inflation
What do National Waste disposal levies and carbon emissions taxes pay for?
The Waste Minimisation Act 2008 was introduced by Central Government to encourage waste minimisation. Under the Act, a disposal levy was imposed on waste sent to landfill. The aim of the levy is to encourage people and organisations to use other options to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. You can read more about the National Waste Disposal Levy on the Ministry for Environment website.
The National Waste Disposal Levy promotes waste minimisation activities, including the building of waste minimisation infrastructure. A number of on-shore recycling facilities in New Zealand, such as Flight Plastic (plastic number 1 recycling), Golden Bay Cement (tyres recycling) and Mint Innovation (e-waste recycling) have been supported by the landfill levy (i.e., Waste Minimisation Fund).
The Ministry for the Environment has changed the national waste disposal levy by +$10 per tonne of waste.
The Emissions Trading Scheme was introduced by Central Government in response to climate change. The aim of the scheme is to tax industries and businesses that produce large amounts of greenhouse gases (e.g. methane) by requiring them to offset the emissions by purchasing carbon credits. The credits are surrendered to the government and it is used to boost forestry, which has been identified as an important tool to fight climate change in New Zealand. Read more about the Emissions Trading Scheme on the Beehive website.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment has changed the cost of carbon credits by +$11.2 due to changes in the Emission Trading Scheme.
What do the operational costs for the Rotorua Landfill cover?
Council has contracted Waste Management to operate the Rotorua Landfill and the refuse transfer station.
The change in Rotorua Landfill operational costs is linked to inflation and the rising costs of man-power, transport and machinery required to run and maintain the landfill. Population growth in Rotorua has also increased the amount of rubbish coming to landfill and more resources are needed to manage this. Rotorua Landfill Transfer Refuse Station operational fees will increase by +$4.12 on 1 July 2021.
FAQs
Why can’t landfill fees be free?
It is expensive to operate a refuse transfer station and manage a capped landfill. This is due to high government taxes and high operating expenses (including manpower and transport), as well as costs related to maintenance, monitoring and compliance.
Charging fees for the use of landfill facilities (including green waste and concrete recycling) is an effective way to recover the costs for carbon credits, waste disposal levies and other operational and regulatory expenses to maintain the landfill site.
If it were free to dispose rubbish at the landfill or if the landfill gate rates are not increased to include the new taxes or increase in operating costs, Council would need to cover the increase in costs, which would need to be passed on to the ratepayers. The cost of the service would fall only on ratepayers versus the current user-pays system. A free landfill could cost ratepayers more than $2.5 million per year.
A free landfill is also likely to attract more commercial waste businesses, from private waste collection companies. In that case, ratepayers would be required to pay for additional waste, for which they are not responsible.
The current user-pays system means that people who aren’t using the landfill are not paying for other people to use the service. Waste Management makes the decisions to increase the fees, with approval from Rotorua Lakes Council.
Will higher landfill fees mean more illegal dumping?
Many people think the cost of using the landfill is one of the reasons people choose to illegally dump their waste.
The cost to make the landfill free for users would be significantly more than the actual cost to clean up illegal dumping each year. It costs Council an estimated $100,000 a year to clean up illegal dumping; however it would cost above an estimated $2.5million to ratepayers, for landfill services to be fee free.
Other alternative ways to get rid of waste include community clean up days that are often supported by Council, or sharing a trailer or bins with friends and family.
What is being done to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions?
By introducing kerbside recycling in 2016, about 25% of the city’s waste is diverted from landfill.
In December 2020, a Solid Waste Analysis Protocols (SWAP) waste audit was carried out to better understand what items are in Rotorua’s rubbish and recycling, and explore how more waste could be diverted from landfill.
Council is currently working towards introducing an organic waste collection. An organic waste collection could divert more than 50% of municipal waste from landfill.
Public education programmes will continue to encourage residents to think about the waste they produce and alternative ways to deal with it. Options like composting at home, second hand stores and good recycling habits will help to reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill and will therefore reduce the carbon emissions the contractor has to pay for.
Click here to view Councils Waste Assessment 2021.
For more information, contact info@rotorualc.nz