Omaranui Landfill Fees to Increase

Fees at Omaranui Landfill are set to increase from Wednesday, July 1 2009 after a Government levy comes into force and disposal costs per tonne increase.

The current charge rate of $48 per tonne for general municipal waste at Omaranui Landfill will increase to $64 per tonne. This represents an increase of $16 per tonne.

The increase includes a $10 per tonne Government imposed waste levy.

The levy is designed as a tool for reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. Half of the collected levy will be distributed to councils to fund waste minimisation projects and the other half will go into a contestable Government fund.

The concept of a landfill levy has worked effectively in reducing waste in both the UK and Australia.

Martin Jarvis, who oversees the running of the landfill for Hastings District Council, says the charges at the landfill are set at the level required to retain full cost recovery of all expenses associated with running the facility.

“Charge rates at the landfill were last increased in July 2008. Since then costs associated with developing and operating the landfill have continued to increase,” Mr Jarvis says.

The decreasing volume of waste entering the landfill has also had an impact on charge rates.

All waste categories at the landfill are affected by this increase. This includes ‘Special Wastes’ which increase from $72 per tonne to $91 per tonne.

NB: All charges are GST exclusive.