Three councils give green light to Bonny Glen landfill to save ratepayers up to $25 million

A decision to accept a waste disposal offer from Bonny Glen landfill will save Taranaki ratepayers up to $25 million over 35 years.

After careful consideration and a detailed feasibility study, the Stratford, South Taranaki and New Plymouth District Councils have agreed to suspend further development of the Central Landfill near Eltham (approximately $7.5 million has been invested to date), bank the facility for future use and accept an offer from Midwest Disposals Ltd which operates Bonny Glen landfill, near Marton.

The latest offer was too good to ignore and enables the Councils to focus on becoming a Zero Waste region without raising the residential waste disposal costs, as no minimum tonnage is required and we only pay for what we send.

The 35-year agreement saves money, reduces risk, delivers long-term certainty and provides real incentive to minimise waste (in comparison the Central Landfill would need more waste sent to it to keep fixed costs down which is actually a disincentive to focus on reducing waste). The agreement also allows the Councils to exit at any stage if they are unhappy.

The three Councils will begin taking the region’s waste to Bonny Glen in the second half of 2019, around the same time as New Plymouth’s Colson Road Landfill is set to close. In the meantime, they urge everyone to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Attribution: South Taranaki District Council Chief Executive Waid Crockett, Stratford District Council Chief Executive Sven Hanne, New Plymouth District Council Chief Executive Craig Stevenson.

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