A new study has been carried out to try and determine how much rubbish farms are generating and what farmers are doing with it.
The Waikato and Bay of Plenty regional councils have commissioned a survey of 69 farms which found that the average farm generates 37 tonnes of waste a year.
Much of the rubbish, which ranges from plastics and scrap metal, to glass, batteries and domestic refuse, is being burnt, buried or stored on the farm.
Waikato Regional Council's waste minimisation officer Marianna Tyler says the purpose of the survey was to get a better picture of farm waste and its disposal, so decisions can be made about how to recycle waste in the future.
"We had very little data prior to this on what kinds of waste there are out there. So this is a really great step forward for us to understand some of the opportunities and some of the gaps out there that we can work collaboratively on to find these solutions for the rural sector," she said.
