Managing waste

Seepage of leachate from buried waste materials, including heavy metals and chemicals, can contaminate water and soil. Waste that can be reused or recycled should not be buried. This includes:

Household items: 1-7 plastics, paper and cardboard, tins, aerosol cans, glass bottles and jars. 

On-farm items: Agrichemicals, bale wrap, silage pit covers, feed/fertiliser bags, shrink wrap, plastic containers or drums, baling twine, paint, batteries, metal waste, oils, fuels and solvents and tyres. 

Any waste that is buried on-farm must comply with Rule R89 of the Natural Resources Plan (PDF 2 MB) .

Burning waste releases hazardous and toxic substances into the air and surrounding environment. This can affect people’s health, crops and water supplies. 

You should not burn any treated, painted or oiled wood, plastics, oils, paint, tar, rubber (including tyres), asbestos material, vehicle parts, synthetic material  foams, fibreglass and metals of all kinds including fence wire. 

Organic matter is vital for our soils health to produce good crops and feed. Composting household food wastes is a great way to return organic matter to your garden.  Discharge of compost or solid animal waste must meet the conditions of Rules R86 and R90 of the Natural Resources Plan (PDF 2 MB) .

In some cases farm dumps are unavoidable. For example, where curb-side recycling is not offered, or if you live more than 20km away from a transfer station. A well thought out and managed farm dump will minimise environmental and land degradation. 

Location

Farm dumps are best placed:

• On silt or clay soils that reduce the risk of water contamination
• Out of flood zones or areas prone to flooding or ponding
• 6m above the water table
• Outside of any community drinking water supply protection area

Recording new and old farm dumps is a good idea and may be useful in the future.  

Size

Minimising your waste will help you to keeping your farm dump small (less than 50m³) making it easier to remediate once it is full and means more land area can be used for growing your business. 

For this to be carried out without a resource consent, you need to meet the conditions of Rule R89 in the Natural Resources Plan (PDF 2 MB) .

Offal pits should be recorded on a map, and have no connection to any water source, as this can cause contamination. When deciding where to put an offal pit, consider:

• Distance from surface or ground water
• Soil type. Silty or clay soils are required to slow and create even water flow through the soil profile
• Whether storm water could affect the pit.

For this to be carried out without a resource consent, you need to meet the conditions of  Rule R91 in the Natural Resources Plan (PDF 2 MB) .

Rural landowners can drop rubbish, recyclables and green waste off at transfer or recycling stations in their districts. 

Recyclable items include paper, cardboard, 1-7 plastics, glass bottles and jars, tin & aluminium cans, aerosol cans, plastic meat trays. 

Information on hours and locations of transfer and recycling stations can be found on your local council’s website. 

A number of scrap metal merchants are located in the Wellington Region. They can recycle white wire, roof iron, cable, old tools, coppers, aluminium, brass, iron, steel, cars, cans, bins, radiators and batteries.

A simple Google search will allow you to choose the recycler best suited to you. 

Major paint companies such as Resene and Dulux run take back scheme that allows consumers to return left over paint and empty containers. Contact your local paint supplier to enquire about this service.  

Plasback recycles unwanted on- farm plastic waste. Rural landowners and business owners can recycle seven different categories of waste plastic:

• Bale wrap, silage pit covers, small low density polyethylene (LDPE) feed bag, shrink wrap and pallet covers 
• Polypropylene feed, seed and fertiliser bags
• HDPE 1-60L containers (triple rinsed) 
• ECOLAB and AGPRO HDPE 100-200L drums
• Vineyard nets, HDPS monofilament nets 
• Polypropylene Twine
• Irrigation pipes and tree guards

Each category should be kept in a separate bin liner for collection. Bins and liners can be purchased online from Plasback or your local Farm Source store.  

Agrecovery is a rural recycling programme that collects and recycles chemical containers, drums and unwanted or expired chemicals. 

Chemicals

Agrecovery provides a subsidised/free collection service, depending on the chemicals being disposed. Landowners can book online to arrange for chemicals to be collected. A collection day is planned in each region every 12-18 months.  

Chemical Containers

Landowners can take their empty triple-rinsed containers to: 

Masterton 

PGG Wrightson, 38 Lincoln Road, Masterton 5810

Monday-Friday 7:30am-5pm 

Martinborough  

Landfill, Lake Ferry Road, Martinborough 5781 

Third Wednesday of every month 10am-2pm 

Featherston Farm Source

980-102 Fitzherbert street

Monday - Friday 8am-5pm

Plastic or steel 61L-1000L Drums/IBC

Rinsed drums/IBCs that are included in Agrecovery’s participating brand owners can be booked for collection online. Collections take place on a quarterly basis.