Waste Management is currently progressing a proposal to establish an industrial waste treatment plant and a tyre recycling plant at 305 Marshs Road, South Hornby, Christchurch. This is next to its existing office and recycling facility at 301 Marshs Road.
The proposed industrial waste treatment plant will eventually replace Waste Management’s existing facility located at 88 Francella St, Bromley. This plant receives a variety of wastes that are processed prior to disposal to landfill and tradewaste.
In addition, another plant will process waste tyres, turning end of life tyres into tyre derived fuel.
Christchurch City Council granted consent for these operations at the site in December 2018. As a final step, Waste Management is now applying for an air discharge consent for the site from Environment Canterbury.
The potential air quality effects at 305 Marshs Road are expected to be less than minor based on measures successfully employed at Waste Management’s existing Bromley site.
Treatment of odorous waste will occur within an enclosed building. The air from this building will be treated by a biofilter.
It is planned for the new development to commence operations in June 2020.
FAQs
(updated 3 March 2020)
Why are you proposing your new facility at this site?
Waste Management has its main operations for Christchurch from a site in Marshs Rd. This proposed new facility will be on land next door to our current site. One part of the operations, Technical Services, replaces an older, existing facility in Bromley and the other part will provide for a new end-of-life tyre recycling facility.
The area has been zoned under the Christchurch District Plan (which became operational in December 2017) as heavy industrial and the activities that we are planning to conduct are approved activities for an industrial zone.
What activities are planned for the new site?
There are two new activities that we are proposing to conduct at the Marshs Rd site.
1. We are proposing to relocate our existing Technical Services operations at Francella St, Bromley to the new site in Marshs Rd.
This operation includes treating waste so it can be safely disposed of or recycled. This waste comes from homes (such as kitchen and other household cleaning products and chemicals), businesses (such as oily rags to separate the oil for recycling and re-use) and the community (such as street sweepings or material that comes from broken sewer pipes, separating liquids from solids so that it can also be safely disposed).
These are not new activities for Waste Management, just activities which are being relocated from Bromley to Hornby South. We have been managing the same waste for the Canterbury region in Bromley for 9 years, and we have not had a single complaint from the regulatory authorities or the community, including neighbours and nearby schools.
2. Waste Management is proposing to establish a tyre processing facility at the new site in Marshs Rd.
To process the tyres into what is called “tyre derived fuel” (TDF) we shred them in a slow rotation, high torque shredder, to cut the tyres into smaller chunks. Water is continuously applied during shredding, which ensures no dust comes from the process.
These smaller chunks (the TDF) are then able to be placed into shipping containers for transportation to cement kilns and other similar facilities to use as fuel to replace coal.
Waste Management will have tyres arriving and being shredded continuously. We will keep the amount of tyres to a maximum of 3 metres high (lower than the height of an average house). The stored tyres waiting to be shredded will also be in an area next to the new 4 lane motorway at the rear of the site, and well away from Marshs Rd.
Bunds (retaining walls) will ensure any stormwater is collected and treated on the site.
Waste Management already operates a much larger tyre recycling facility in Auckland, which is helping to address the problem of waste tyres that exists across New Zealand. This new site in Marshs Rd will not be as large as the facility in Auckland and will only process around 30% of the volume of tyres.
You can learn more about waste tyres (also known as “end-of-life tyres) and TDF below.
Isn’t this a toxic waste facility that you are proposing?
No. Waste Management does not process toxic chemicals in any of our Christchurch facilities, including the current Technical Services facility in Bromley.
Toxic wastes, or wastes that are identified as requiring hazardous waste treatment, are all transported to our approved major hazard facility in Auckland.
Why do you need an air discharge consent if there is nothing to worry about?
An air discharge consent sets the rules for the site about management of dust, odour and specific compounds so as to not impact neighbours or the environment.
Once an air discharge consent is provided for a site, Waste Management must have an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that ensures we comply with the rules in the consent at all times.
Under the Resource Management Act, ECan requires Waste Management to obtain this air discharge consent (known as a consent to Discharge Contaminates to Air) for the planned activities on the site.
We have held an air discharge consent at our existing site at Bromley since 2012, and we have never breached this consent. The EMP for Bromley is available to the public from Ecan here.
Similarly, the EMP which will ensure we meet the air discharge consent requirements for the new site (should the application be approved) will be available to the public.
Waste Management has a hazardous waste facility in Auckland. Is this one going to be the same?
No. The Marshs Road facility will not process toxic waste (waste that require hazardous waste treatment). This waste will continue to be transported to our facility at Neales Road, East Tamaki in Auckland for processing.
If you have any other questions, please contact us by emailing communications@wastemanagement.co.nz
More information on Environment Canterbury’s consent process is available here