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Waste

Statistics prove that almost 65% of the rubbish that ends up in landfill doesn't have to be there. Composting and reducing rubbish by being a little more discerning about your purchases are the two main messages extolled in thecampaign. "We want to get the message across to people that waste is everybody's responsibility. We all need to reduce waste at its source and we have to get over the mentality that waste simply goes away. It doesn't, it stays. For quite some time and it has a significant effect on our environment."

And here's one of the easiest and most effortless things you can do to start reducing the amount of rubbish in your wheelie bin - no junk mail. Environment Southland has "No Junk Mail" stickers available free of charge, so give us a call on 0800 76 88 45 and save yourself the hassle of trying to find your bills in amongst masses of advertising flyers.

If your household or business needs help to reduce, reuse or recycle, call Fleur at Environment Southland on 0800 76 88 45.

Farm waste

Running a farm can produce lots of different kinds of waste. Some of the most common types can cause headaches for farmers wanting to dispose of them properly. There are now some product stewardship schemes available to help you recycle bale wrap, safely dispose of agrichemicals and recover agrichemical containers. These programmes provide a better way to deal with common farm wastes than burying or burning them. Below is a list of common types of farm wastes and ways to deal with them, so they will have minimal impact on the environment.

Common farm wastes

Environment Southland has some rules relating to the on-farm disposal of wastes derived from production land. Visit the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan for Southland to find out what rules apply. It is important to remember that farm landfills may not contain any hazardous substances, sludge, oil, chemical containers with chemical residues or any offal. This plan is under review and it is likely these rules might change, so check back soon for more updates.

Organic waste

Organics is one of the largest waste streams. It comprises 42% of all material landfilled in Southland. A significant proportion of the organic waste stream is green waste, which generally includes household garden waste and commercial landscaping waste. Other kinds of organic waste includes food and kitchen wastes. Landfilled organic wastes adversely affect the environment, by generating and releasing methane (one of the primary landfill gases and a significant greenhouse gas) and generating leachate. Unlike many other waste streams, there are a number of options for converting organic waste to other, environmentally-beneficial products or converted to another state so that, when disposed of, they have a lower environmental impact. Check out these great ways to reduce the amount of organic waste going to landfill.