The pending decision on the future of waste disposal for Napier and Hastings has received a boost of $250,000.
The money has come from the Government’s waste minimisation fund and is being invested in the waste futures project.
“A future plan on rubbish is needed, as the current valley at Omarunui Landfill, jointly owned by the two councils will be full by 2025, says Hastings District councillor Cynthia Bowers.
“Before we invest tens of millions of dollars on extending Omarunui, we wanted to pause and think about whether that is the best way of doing things,” says Bowers.
It’s about looking at a range of options and coming up with a solution that takes Hastings and Napier’s waste disposal into a new era,” she says.
The brief includes looking at ways Hawke’s Bay residents can further reduce waste while exploring technologies for dealing with material that is currently being landfilled, says Napier City councillor Michelle Pyke.
The options will be detailed to the public next month.
Four solutions being intensively investigated are expanding the Omarunui landfill, thermal treatment, mechanical, biological treatment and moving the region’s waste out of the area to a commercial landfill.
All options are reliant on increasing residents’ recycling and waste reduction efforts.
