We are still putting our waste into the ground. We have Hampton Downs landfill and the new Dome Valley landfill due to open in the near future.
Time to stop this. Time to own the issue and not just contract it out and hope for the best.
One option - the Government should buy back the Huntly power station from Genesis Energy and turn it into a rubbish incineration plant. Yes, there would be some CO’s into the atmosphere, but would it be any more than the gases leaching out of landfills? Probably not.
Rubbish would be sent to Huntly by train in sealed carriages and be processed prior to incineration, removing the hundreds of truck journeys a week. Local waste stations could be located alongside current rail lines and taken to Huntly at night. Rubbish could be shipped from all over the North Island – from Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Wellington and even from the Hawkes Bay.
Bio security could be managed by large secure bins where the waste is stored prior to incineration and a water filtration plant built to ensure the Waikato river is not contaminated.
Proper recycling could be set up and help offset the costs.
Ian McTavish, Herne Bay
#rubbish #waste #recycling