Hiab operator Jay Pihema and Recreational Services' Patrick Heaney recover waste dumped off the edge of Whangae Rd near Kawakawa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Hiab operator Jay Pihema and Recreational Services' Patrick Heaney recover waste dumped off the edge of Whangae Rd near Kawakawa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
At least half the rubbish dumped in native bush near Kawakawa — and possibly as much as 80 per cent — could have been taken to a recycling station free of charge.
The finding makes a lie of claims that the high cost of disposing of rubbish properly forces Northlandersto resort to illegal dumping.
Contractors working for the Far North District Council spent Tuesday cleaning up a series of illegal dumps along Whangae Rd, off State Highway 1 just north of Kawakawa's Three Bridges.
Recreational Services' Justin Dolan fills yet another sack with rubbish dumped off the edge of Whangae Rd. Photo / Peter de Graaf
They had already spent a day earlier this month collecting easily accessible waste, but this time they brought a crane to clean up a series of roadside dump sites dropping steeply into native bush to a stream.
The crane was used to help workers up and down banks and hoist up the huge volumes of rubbish they collected.
Recreational Services operations manager Alfred Crawford said it was mostly household waste and easily recycled items such as whiteware, especially fridges and microwaves.
Most recycling stations will take scrap steel, whiteware included, without charge.
The crew also recovered a large number of bottles which could be dropped off at recycling stations free of charge.
Hiab operator Jay Pihema hoists up yet another sack filled with waste tipped off the side of Whangae Rd near Kawakawa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
''It's disgusting, particularly when some of these sites go straight down to the creek and we're only scratching the surface. We know there's whole lot more further down that we just can't get to.''
Crawford estimated at least half of the recovered waste was recyclable.
Based on analysis of other dumpsites, the council has previously said the proportion of easily recycled items is around 80 per cent.
Council solid waste engineer Simon Millichamp said the contractors targeted four main sites along Whangae Rd.
Old, compacted rubbish remained at one site because it was too difficult to extract.
If there was money left in the budget the crew would return for further clean-ups of the smaller dump sites.
Recreational Services operations manager Alfred Crawford and hiab operator Jay Pihema recover illegally dumped waste from native bush at Whangae Rd, near Kawakawa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Overall, they recovered 35.5cu m of rubbish and another 3cu m of whiteware.
In general, about 85 per cent of Northlanders' household rubbish by volume was recyclable, Millichamp said.
Some of the items he saw being recovered on Tuesday — such as empty bottles of pricey spirits such as Kaluha — suggested a lack of money wasn't the only reason people were dumping on Whangae Rd.
Kawakawa man David Passey discovered the mess while mountainbiking on Whangae Rd. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Kawakawa resident David Passey, who discovered the mess while mountainbiking last year, alerted the council then contacted the Advocate to raise public awareness of the problem.
The creek where the Whangae Rd rubbish ends up eventually flows into Kawakawa River and then into the Bay of Islands.
In the year to June 2021, the Far North District Council received 413 complaints about illegal dumping and issued 67 fines.
The cost to ratepayers of cleaning up illegal rubbish during the same period was just over $200,000, even though most of the waste could have been properly disposed of without charge.
A truck loaded with whiteware and other items that could have been dropped off a recycling station free of charge. Photo / Peter de Graaf
