20 October 2004

Councillor says it's all a load of rubbish

Manukau City Council's draft waste management plan is now available for comment and Councillor Noel Burnside says it's all rubbish - in a colloquial way he adds.

Waste is a big issue and now's the time for people to have a say in the future of waste management in the city.

The draft waste management plan is available from Council's Call Centre 262 5104, Council's libraries, customer centre or online at www.manukau.govt.nz.

The draft plan sets the direction for how Council will promote effective waste management and minimise the quantity of waste being produced.

Councillor Noel Burnside says there are many aspects to waste that people are being asked to comment on. These include the possibility of setting up a regional collection for kitchen waste, inorganic collections, illegal dumping and household recycling to name a few.

"People and businesses are ultimately responsible for the waste they produce. It's something that we must all make a conscience decision on. We can all do something about reducing what we throw out by following the three Rs; reduce, reuse, recycle" says Cr Burnside.

"The environment cannot sustain the onslaught of waste being dumped at landfills without thought. The damage caused to the environment by throwing everything away will be irredeemable unless we make changes now," said Cr Burnside.

Last year Manukau residents produced 92,000 tonnes of waste, of which 73,776 tonnes was landfilled.

Cr Burnside says if people know how much they are producing then they should try and reduce this slightly each year. "Get the family involved. Talk to each other about what you're throwing out. Imagine if everyone tried to save 20% per household going to the landfills. What a difference to the environment that would make," he said.

People have until 17th December to read the draft plan and tell Council what they think.

ENDS

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