Earthworks at Mt Messenger in Taranaki Photo: Waka Kotahi/NZTA
70% of material that ends up in landfills comes from construction and demolition. But hidden inside that figure is the number one component - soil. Reports for the Ministry of Environment indicate that more than 80% of construction and demolition waste every year is earth.
But a project is underway to stop the thousands of tonnes of soil that goes to landfill every year. The chair of WasteMINZ’s Optimising Soil Reuse project, Rod Lidgard - who is a site contamination specialist - wants those in construction to plan ahead and design out waste.
