Organic waste

Introduction

Organics is one of the largest waste streams. It comprises 23 percent of all material landfilled. A significant proportion of the organic waste stream is green waste, which generally includes household garden waste and commercial landscaping waste.

Landfilled organic wastes adversely affect the environment, by generating and releasing methane (one of the primary landfill gases and a significant greenhouse gas) and generating leachate.

Recent concerns about climate change add impetus to New Zealand finding more ways of diverting organic wastes from landfill.

Unlike many other waste streams, there are a number of options for converting organic waste to other, environmentally beneficial products or converted to another state so that, when disposed of, they have a lower environmental impact.

Market demand is growing for alternative end-uses for recycled organics such as composts, soil conditioners and mulches. However, consumers are demanding an increasing level of quality for such products, and this is a challenge for the waste industry.

Current issues

The Government is encouraging households and industry to divert more green waste, food waste and commercial organic waste from landfills. One of the ways will be through the Sustainable Households programme announced in February and the introduction of dedicated waste funding to develop comprehensive nationwide infrastructure.

The Ministry is also working with the organics recycling industry to further boost its research and development capabilities.

This will allow producers to market natural products along with traditional inorganic fertilisers and pesticides. Entering these markets will create a huge increase in demand for a high quality, consistent product which should increase diversion, collection, and reprocessing of organic wastes.

More information

Reduce your rubbish website – household composting tips