Where does our rubbish go?

Ever wondered where our rubbish goes after it gets picked up from the kerbside by a rubbish truck?  15 Mangere Bridge residents got the opportunity to follow the trail of “where all our rubbish disappears to” last week, when they took part in a Council-organised trip to the Waitakere Transfer Station.  Participants were collected by bus from Mangere Bridge, joining other interested people from around South Auckland, and taken to the Station located off Lincoln Rd. 

Once there, they received a presentation by Learning Centre Manager Marissa Oakley-Browne, who talked about the rubbish that comes into the station, what happens to it there, and where it goes next.  Participants learnt that this site is one of 23 in Auckland which serve as initial drop off points for rubbish destined for landfill.  During the visit, trucks rolled in one after another, dropping off waste onto a large pile.  This pile is then loaded onto an even larger truck, which takes everything to one of four current landfill sites in the Auckland region.

Marissa explained how landfills work, how much rubbish we contribute to them each week (see picture below) and why it is so important that we all work to keep as much out of landfill as possible. Many people found it an “eye-opening” experience to see for themselves that our waste doesn’t just “disappear” when it leaves our property.

On the bright side, Waitakere Transfer Station is one of the few sites in Auckland that incorporates resource recovery into its handling of waste, providing a model for how this could be done in other parts of Auckland as well.  Trip participants were able to visit the well-organised on-site shop which sells goods recovered from the waste stream; anything from bikes to musical instruments to lawn mowers.  The shop is a real treasure trove and proves that one person’s trash certainly can be someone else’s treasure!

The trip was an informative day out for the Mangere Bridge folk who attended, many of whom were children.  Eight year old Jasmine Swords reported that “ït was really really fun" and said she learnt that “if you sort out the rubbish into different piles there will be less rubbish to be put out”. The boys who attended the trip were particularly inspired by the large pile of salvaged reusable wood.  Jasmine’s mother Kathy felt that attending the trip caused her to “think about what she puts into the rubbish”.  Others enjoyed connecting with people from around South Auckland who were interested in waste issues as well.

The Council is planning future community trips to the Transfer Station as well as to the Visy recycling plant in Onehunga and Living Earth composting facility on Puketutu Island.  If you would like to hear about upcoming trips, please email your contact details to justineskilling@gmail.com and I’ll let you know what’s coming up.