C&D’s original consented area is full, but C&D Landfill had applied for and received resource consent to fill another nearby gully. The consent has been passed on to HCL as part of the sale.
The change comes at the right time for Wellington, as the region has been struggling with a shortage of construction and demolition ‘cleanfill’ facilities.
HCL will operate the landfill with a focus on resource recovery – separating materials out for recycling or reuse, helping divert waste from landfill. Resource recovery will focus on concrete, aggregates and roading materials, timber, plasterboard and metal, with further materials to be considered over time as end markets develop. Wellington City Council will work with HCL to maximise reuse and recycling opportunities.
This landfill is not related to the Southern Landfill extension; it is a separate facility under different consents. The change in operator will incur no cost to Wellington City Council or ratepayers.
The Council’s Waste, Water and Resilience Manager, Chris Mathews, says the change in operator comes at a critical time for the construction industry.
“We are at crisis point in terms of having somewhere to manage construction and demolition waste. We only have one construction and demolition landfill for the whole of the lower North Island – the T&T Landfill on Happy Valley Road, which is nearing its current capacity.
“Without a solution like this it’s likely landfills designed for general waste will have large amounts of construction and demolition waste sent there. That would rapidly shorten the lifespans of those landfills – something we want to avoid as much as possible.
“This also is a huge step towards reducing waste to landfill, as we’ve committed to doing in our Zero Waste Strategy," adds Chris.
“To have a family-owned local business committed to resource recovery take over the site and provide much needed services for the industry is good news for the region.”
With a lack of suitable facilities, current options for cleanfill include disposal in the three regional municipal landfills (Southern Landfill in Wellington City, Silverstream in Hutt City and Spicer in Porirua), at Kiwi Point Quarry and/or trucking material to Bonny Glen near Marton, about 160km away.
The previous construction and demolition fill area will be remediated before the new site opens in late 2025/early 2026.
Matthew Halverson from HCL says: “We’re looking forward to providing a landfill with a focus on resource recovery that allows the construction industry to deal with the inevitable waste it produces, locally.
“As a family that has lived in Wellington for generations, we want to make sure waste is being dealt with here as the population increases, and construction work increases along with it.”
This is good news to Civil Contractors New Zealand, which has raised concerns about the issue and impacts on the Wellington region if a solution isn’t found. Potential impacts include increased construction costs, transport emissions and fly-tipping at locations without environmental management.
CCNZ Chief Executive Alan Pollard says knowing there’ll be a facility with resource recovery and affordable, appropriate disposal for non-hazardous waste is welcome news.
“It will cut down on wear and tear on the roads, reduce emissions and reduce the cost of construction.
“The region has reached a crisis point, where there are very few options for managing and reusing waste soil with robust environmental controls. Knowing we’ll have a better option in Wellington soon is a big relief,” says Alan.
When it opens, the facility will accept non-hazardous construction and demolition material such as dirt, aggregate and roading materials, timber, concrete, rocks, and steel. Contaminated soil and asbestos will continue to be accepted at the Southern Landfill.