3 September 2023

I have been asked what I think of the options proposed by Christchurch City Council for the green bin organics which go to the Bromley Organics Processing Plant.

Reading the consultation document, I am making the assumption that short-term relates to the time it will take to establish the replacement site. Based on that, 3 – 5 years is an unreasonable time period for the adjoining community to have to persevere with the smell.

A real option not being explored in both the short term and new site investigation, is based on the work that Bailey Perriman is carrying out in the Otakaro corridor near Dallington. There Bailey has been composting commercial and domestic garden and food waste with no smell issues. Bailey believes this is the most efficient and appropriate way to deal with the citys green waste, local, smaller sites across the city.

Of the five options proposed, I favour a mixture,

In order that they appear in the consultation

• Sending organics to an alternative processor in the North Island

I don’t have enough information on the alternative processor operation. However, at a cursory glance this option would suggest it is transferring our problem somewhere else, albeit for a ‘short term’. I do note however that a loaded 30 wagon coal train carries 2000 tonnes and that Kiwi Rail has electric locomotives in the North Island. However that is still the impact of 30 trips per annum if it was all to be sent north.

• Sending organics to Kate Valley Landfill

Given there is already a process to transport waste to Kate Valley, this has some merit, especially during the high-volume green waste period of the year. This would ensure the quantity of material on the current site, should it remain open in the interim, does not exceed the sites real capacity.

I also note that the Kate Valley operation captures the greenhouse gases produced by decomposing organic waste by converting the methane to renewable electricity. However, we are not getting the benefit of collecting the material in the green bins and we are taking up finite landfill space.

• Stay composting at the Organics Processing Plant and install an extra outdoor screen

This option does not consider the adjoining community. In my opinion, the site clearly lacks capacity to be able to manage the current quantity of materials collected.

Im not sure what the benefits of an outdoor screen will provide, I would have thought this would likely exacerbate the problem of odour and possibly dust, by stirring it up. Again, it is my belief that the current site lacks the capacity to manage the current quantity of green waste collected.

• Reduce the amount of material going to the Organics Processing Plant – minimising the need for outdoor storage of material.

This has to be the significant part of the solution.

For starters Waimakariri district need to take responsibility for the 5000 tonnes they have trucked into Bromley annually (8.3%).

My question would be, what happens to the material not going to the Plant? Bailey Perrimans proposal seems to be a good fit with this option, perhaps in a way to compliment the many community gardens. See link in comments

Just to throw this one in, perhaps support households who may wish to run worm farms. I have had one for nearly twenty years and along with my compost piles, I am relatively self-sufficient. I do recognise however that the reality is that most residents and businesses generally lack the space, time and knowledge to be able to compost or worm farm at their place of residence or operation.

• Partial processing of material at the Organics Processing Plant – first stage of composting done indoors at the plant with second-stage processing done off-site.

It still gets back to the Bromley capacity. This may work with a significant reduction in material going to Bromley, with the rest to Kate Valley.

In my opinion and experience of small to moderate sized composting operations, time is the key to a useable material. I believe that the current site does not have the capacity to hold the volume of material after it comes out of the initial composting tunnels, therefore the material is never given sufficient time to decay and retains smell and is too green to use on gardens.