Nick Mills: We Can't Ignore Our Landfill Crisis

EDITORIAL: Let’s start this one with a show of hands. Who’s been to the tip lately?  I want you to be honest. I’ll start.   I reckon I’m a regular at the tip, I think I’ve been a dozen times this year.   House clean-ups, business clear-outs, all the stuff that’s just easier to throw away than deal with properly.   Out of sight, out of mind. Job done.  Except—it’s not.  Because right now, Wellington has a rubbish problem that’s getting worse, not better—and this isn’t opinion, this is straight fact.  Our main dump, the Southern Landfill, is now expected to hit capacity in about four to five years.   Last time we talked about it, it was ten years. That’s been pulled forward from around eight.  So already, the clock’s ticking faster than anyone planned.  And here’s where it ramps up.  Over in Porirua, Spicer Landfill is due to close in 2030. Sounds like someone else’s problem, right? It’s not. Because when Spicer goes, it takes pressure off nowhere—it pushes it straight back onto Wellington.  Yes, there’s a plan. A sludge dryer up at Tītahi Bay, meant to shrink the volume. Sounds good.   Problem is—it might not be ready in time. Even the people behind it say finishing by 2030 is “ambitious”.  In fact, Wellington’s Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty has already said closing Spicer effectively chops years off the life of the Southern Landfill—taking it from a good scenario of about seven years down to four.  Now here’s the part that should really make you sit up.  Every year, this region produces around 8,000 tonnes of sewage sludge.   Not rubbish you can skip. Not something you can pause. It’s a by-product of wastewater treatment—you cannot turn it off.  And right now, officials are warning there is a real risk that when Spicer closes, there may be nowhere to put it.  Now think about that for a second.  We’re not talking about old couches or broken fridges—we’re talking about essential waste from a system that has to run 24/7.   If there’s nowhere for it to go, you don’t have a tidy-up problem—you’ve got a system problem.   So we’ve got less landfill space, more pressure on what’s left, and the backup plan might not land when it needs to.  And if you think the answer is just “build more landfill”—not so fast. Local iwi, including Ngāti Toa Rangatira, and residents are strongly opposed to extending these sites.   Cultural concerns, environmental concerns, plain old quality of life.  So that option? Politically and socially—very, very hard.  Which leaves us where?  More waste. Less space. No clear plan.  And I’ll put my hand up—I’m part of it. It’s easier to dump than sort it out. Easier to pay the fee and drive away.  But we cannot keep doing that.  Because if we don’t get ahead of this—fast—the next thing creeping up the valley won’t just be a landfill.  It’ll be a crisis we cannot ignore.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.