Managing waste

Disposing of waste responsibly helps protect our land and waterways. Below is a quick guide to the disposal of cleanfill and tyre waste, what facilities do and don’t accept, when documentation is required, and alternative disposal options available in the region.

There is also information on current waste issues that affect Waitaha/Canterbury and have national relevance, including coal tar and treated timber, and our approach to disaster waste management.

Disposal facilities in Waitaha

To view district council facilities in Canterbury that accept non-recyclable waste, please see the following links:

Cleanfill

In Waitaha, cleanfill facilities accept only uncontaminated materials that can be safely buried.

What cleanfill facilities do accept:

  • natural materials like clay, soil and rock
  • materials like concrete, that are free from contamination
  • materials that can be buried without the potential to harm people and the environment.

What cleanfill facilities don’t accept: 

  • materials such as steel/metal, treated timber, plastic or household rubbish
  • waste that has high levels of heavy metals or too much green waste (such as grass clippings, flax, leaves or tree branches)
  • waste with visual staining signalling chemical contamination. 

When documentation is needed:

Alternative waste disposal and transfer sites within Waitaha

There are alternative sites within Waitaha that may accept waste that is not accepted at cleanfill facilities. Please enquire directly with the site to check your waste meets their acceptance criteria.

Note: The waste disposal and transfer sites on this list are not owned or operated by us.

Waste disposal sites that only accept waste from contractors

Frews Contracting Limited

 Address: Corner of Plantation Road and Thwaites Rd, Hororata

 Phone: 027 836 5082

Transwaste Canterbury Ltd, Kate Valley Landfill

 Address: 554 Mt Cass Road, Waipara

 Phone: 03 359 1800

Wheatsheaf Quarry and Cleanfill

 Address: 48 Selwyn Road, Rolleston

 Phone: 027 541 7393

Canterbury Environmental Solutions Ltd, Taiko

 Address: 1401 Taiko Rd, Cave, Taiko

 Phone: 027 615 7940

Waste disposal sites that accept waste from the public (may require a special permit)

Christchurch City Council, Burwood Landfill

 Address: 1 Landfill Avenue, Parklands

 Phone: 03 941 8999 or 0800 800 169

Open to the public until June 2026, special permit required.

Timaru District Council

 Address: Redruth Resource Recovery Park, 23 Shaw Street, Timaru

 Phone: 03 687 7200

Authorised waste transfer sites

Canterbury Environmental Solutions Ltd, Temuka

 Address: 45 Wilmhurst Rd, Temuka

 Phone: 027 615 7940

Public and construction waste.

Canterbury Environmental Solutions Ltd, Hornby

 Address: 619 Halswell Junction Road, Hornby

 Phone: 027 615 7940

Public waste.

Frews Contracting Limited

 Address: 85 Factory Road, Belfast

Public and construction waste.

Tyres

Burning tyres

Burning tyres is illegal and is nationally prohibited under the National Environmental Standardfor Air Quality (2004). In Waitaha, the burning of all rubber, including tyres, is prohibited under the Canterbury Air Regional Plan (CARP) rule 7.7(a).

For information on the pollutants and the possible health and environmental effects associated with them please view our tyre disposal brochure (PDF file, 132KB).

If you think someone is burning tyres, please call us on 0800 765 588.

Outdoor storage of tyres 

In August 2021 the Ministry for the Environment introduced the National Environmental Standards for Storing Tyres Outdoors (NES-STO). 

Depending on the volume of tyres on your property, you may require resource consent from us for the storage of those tyres. 

Find out more about the rules for outdoor tyre storage, and to determine if you need a consent.

Tyre disposal facilities

To view district council facilities in Canterbury that accept tyres, please see the following links or download our tyre disposal information brochure (PDF file, 132KB).

Outdoor tyres stacked

Waste management issues

Coal tar

Coal tar is a historical by-product of the gasworks industry, widely used as a sealant and road metal binder through the first half of the 20th Century. Its use was widespread in Christchurch, with approximately 50 per cent of the urban pre-1985 road network affected. Coal tar is relatively stable in a situation. However, once disturbed it is highly toxic and needs to be treated as a hazardous substance.

Coal tar contains high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are an eco-toxin and can be a risk to human health. We are working closely with Christchurch City Council to ensure discovered coal tar is treated appropriately.

Coal tar

For more information or concerns relating to a coal tar discovery, please contact our advisory team on 03 353 9007 or email pollutionprevention.enquiries@ecan.govt.nz.

Treated timber

Treated timber is a hazardous waste and currently the only viable option for its disposal in Waitaha is landfilling.

Not only is this costly, but we also get nothing back from this waste. We don't reuse, recycle or recover energy from it because of the difficulty of dealing with the treatment of chemicals in the timber.

We need to look at alternative options in Waitaha, and wider New Zealand, which aim to reuse, recycle or recover energy from treated timber and start using this waste as a resource.

Treated timber

Managing earthquake waste and planning for future disasters

Following the Canterbury earthquakes, it was estimated that approximately 8.75 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste would be generated, equating to roughly 40 years of waste normally sent to landfill from the city.

The Waste and Emergency Management Team 

An interagency group, the Waste and Environment Management Team (WEMT), was established to address the movement and disposal of waste.

WEMT provided regulatory oversight, ensuring the effects of the rebuild were minimised. The team addressed issues around the containment, collection and disposal of earthquake waste and rubble following the Canterbury earthquakes.

In 2017, WEMT’s role in earthquake recovery was successfully concluded with compliance returning to local jurisdictions.

Disaster waste

For specific advice from a pollution prevention officer:

Find out more about industrial pollution prevention.

For questions relating to any workplace, including asbestos and other hazards, please see Worksafe New Zealand's website.

Developing a Disaster Waste Management Plan

We created a working template to plan for and manage waste in a disaster response:

This has been made possible with funding from the Ministry for Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

Continued development of the above documents is ongoing, if you have any feedback or would like to know more, please get in contact with the advisory team on 0800 324 636

Waste management projects

Hurunui/Kaikōura Earthquake Waste Project

We coordinated a project, funded by the Ministry for the Environment, to support those in the Hurunui and Kaikōura Districts affected by the November 2016 earthquake.

Activities under the Hurunui/Kaikōura Earthquake Recovery Waste Project included the repair of damaged infrastructure in each district, staffing to support earthquake recovery, and community liaison services to ensure the correct disposal of hazardous materials, including asbestos. Hazardous substances such as pesticides and fuels were also collected and disposed of.

Project completion

The project was completed in March 2019. It included more than 465 asbestos surveys, 23 tonnes of hazardous substances collected and disposed of appropriately, and $1.09m invested in waste collection infrastructure across North Waitaha.

Total expenditure for the project was $1.94 million. This was provided through funding from the Ministry for the Environment's Waste Minimisation Fund and in-kind contributions from us, Kaikōura District Council and Hurunui District Council.

Canterbury Residential Red Zone Household Hazardous Waste Project

The Canterbury Residential Red Zone Household Hazardous Waste Project was developed to support earthquake recovery. It enabled the collection and appropriate disposal of hazardous materials from residential properties 'red-zoned' across Christchurch City and Waimakariri District before demolition.

In 2011, we were part of a working group alongside the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), Christchurch City Council and Waimakariri District Council, that addressed the significant volume of household hazardous waste orphaned through the compulsory demolition of approximately 8000 residential properties.

The result was a coordinated cross-agency approach for safely managing the collection and disposal of this hazardous material, enabling the safe demolition of the red zoned properties.

The project began in 2012 and aimed to collect an estimated 100 tonnes of hazardous substances from the red-zoned properties.

Project completion

The project was completed in 2015, with more than 334 tonnes of household hazardous waste collected and disposed of appropriately. Of this, 200 tonnes were dropped off at council transfer stations and 134 tonnes were collected directly from the red zoned properties.

Total expenditure for the project was $1.16 million. This was provided through funding from the Ministry for the Environment's Waste Minimisation Fund and in-kind contributions from us, Waimakariri District Council and Christchurch City Council.

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