<- Homepage: Waste not Wasted: The science of waste at Kate Valley
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Meet Rangi Lord - Civil Engineer, General Manager at Kate Valley
Replay web conferences
The following questions from schools are answered by Rangi Lord in the first podcast below:
- How was the Kate Valley Landfill created?
- What is the difference between the Kate Valley landfill and other New Zealand landfills?
- How much rubbish goes to the landfill a day? How much rubbish has gone into the Kate Valley landfill since it was first developed?
- What do you do at Kate Valley to make sure that recyclable waste is not transferred to the landfill?
- Where does all the waste go once it’s in the landfill - what does the waste do?
- What types of waste can’t decompose and why?
- Why does the rubbish give off toxic chemicals?
- Is all the waste at Kate Valley completely contained? Can any of it escape into the environment?
- Why can’t the rubbish be burnt in a massive oven and turn it into something else?
- How long is Kate Valley going to last? What will happen to Kate Valley Landfill once it is full?
- Why don’t we send out rubbish to countries like China to be incinerated?
- How do you collect all the toxic gases and how do you know you’ve contained them all?
- If you incinerate the rubbish does this let off toxic gases as well?
- Could you please explain what is leechate?
- What would they do if there was a breach in the liner?
- What happens if the toxic gas does escape?
- How many metres high and wide is the landfill now?
- Can you give examples of toxic waste that you don't accept?
- When the landfill is full will there be another landfill made in Canterbury?
- What is the methane gas used for?
- Where do you get all the soil from?
- What kinds of machines are used at Kate Valley?
- Is there a limit to how big a landfill can get?
The following questions from schools are answered by Rangi Lord in the second podcast below:
- What is the dirt like underneath the rubbish at the landfill?
- What is the layer separating the rubbish from the ground made out of?
- How does the rubbish at the landfill affect the natural environment around the landfill?
- What can be done if water near a landfill gets leachate in it?
- How do you bury the rubbish and how bad are the chemicals for the soil?
- Why was plastic made? What will happen to all the plastic in 100 years?
- How do you stop the rubbish contaminating the water table below the landfill?
- How is there enough money to pay for the technology at Kate Valley?
- How do you stop the rubbish blowing away from the landfill?
- How much research has been conducted into landfills and their impact?
- To what extent do you think old landfills pose a greater risk to the environment than modern engineered landfills like Kate Valley? Can anything be done to improve old landfills that have been closed down?
- How is leachate created? Does it come naturally or just from rubbish?
- Did you have the ability to make Kate Valley earlier or did the technology only become available recently?
The following questions from schools are answered by Rangi Lord in the third podcast below:
- Once the landfill is covered with soil what happens?
- Do you think New Zealanders are making a conscious effort to manage household/industry waste etc or is it getting worse because of the amount of rubbish that we have?
- Why do you think so many restaurants and businesses still use and sell plastic products rather than reusing?
- Do you think the advertisements like Gen Less will have an impact on the future for how much waste we produce?
- What companies have been using environmentally friendly products and what impact does this have on the landfill?
- Do you think people know that organic waste produces the most gas, and if they did, would people be more vigilant about putting this waste in the correct bins?
- What are some other ideas that we can use to reduce the amount of waste and rubbish in New Zealand?
- Do you think Kate Valley could use the methane catchments worldwide? Or did this idea come from somewhere overseas?
- How does the amount of waste we have affect climate change?
- Are there any other landfills like Kate Valley in New Zealand? Is there or will there be a likelihood that the larger cities in like Auckland or Wellington will get a landfill like this? Is this up to the council/ratepayers for each region?
- Why do they put soil on top of the rubbish in the landfill? Can they use concrete?
- Do you ever come across anything valuable that somebody has obviously thrown away by accident?
- What is the most unusual thing you have ever seen in the rubbish at Kate Valley?
