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Waste Management has been accused of putting economics over the environment and opting for old technology with its plans to develop a new landfill south of Wellsford.
Spindler Road resident Robyn Brown told a recent Fight the Tip, Save the Dome public meeting that she had asked a lead project manager why the company was opting for landfill over other waste disposal methods.
“It’s globally acknowledged that landfill is old technology so why are they using old technology? He said it was because NZ only has five million people,” she said. “So, the bottom line is economics over environment. That’s their attitude.”
Social Credit party leader Chris Leitch has voiced similar concerns. The Whangarei-based political activist said the planned dump site in the Dome Valley would not only be a blot on the landscape, but would waste an enormous resource that could be turned into energy and profit.
“Landfills are the least preferable option for rubbish disposal, and with new technologies, waste to energy plants have the potential to be carbon negative,” he said. “The Government should invest in building a waste to energy plant south of Auckland.”
Waste Management said $200 million had been invested in clean-tech sustainable waste management at its Redvale site, capturing and reusing 95 per cent of methane emissions, and it was setting the industry standard in environmentally sustainable practices.
