The construction and demolition waste sector is an attractive area for waste criminals to move into. The rewards are high, the chances of getting caught are low, and the penalties if caught are fairly light and often just a “cost of doing business”. 

The rewards are high

The waste management sector is a stable and reliable industry – everyone needs someone to take their rubbish away. And construction and demolition waste has become the number one waste stream in Auckland due to the housing boom. 40% of Auckland’s legal landfill is now such waste, with household waste totalling 13% by comparison. 

• It costs $200 per 10-tonne truck to legally dump “cleanfill”. 
• It costs $2,200 per 10-tonne truck to legally dump “managed fill” that is contaminated. 
• It would cost a fortune to legally dump asbestos-contaminated waste (and it is not disposed of in this harmful way at legal landfills). 

We don’t know how much illegal dumpsites charge per truck for these kinds of waste, but there is money to be made. 

Running an illegal dumpsite

It’s a far easier business model to run an illegal dumpsite than a legal one. Unlike legal dumpsites, you can establish the dumpsite anywhere you please. You find a bit of hidden rural land, out of public sight and difficult to access. Take waste off the hands of development sites for cheaper than legitimate operators, no questions asked. Then simply dump said waste on your slice of backcountry.

Unlike a legal landfill operator, you don’t need to consider:

• the environment around the dumpsite;
• in the case of the Waitākere Ranges heritage area, its heritage features of national significance and its significant ecological areas (that are examples of indigenous ecosystems endemic to the Auckland region);
• potential contamination of the land;
• installation of a liner system in order to contain leaking leachate;
• whether the site is steep and prone to landslides, or “subject to a high risk of instability”;
• the proximity of watercourses nearby;
• the protection of nearby streams’ high natural character and ecological values; or
• in the words of Council’s abatement notices, sediment smothering aquatic life, damaging fish gills and mouthparts, increasing temperature and turbidity (cloudiness of the water) and preventing light penetrating the water, all of which significantly alter fish habitats.

In the case of the Swanson Foothills, you also don’t need to turn your mind to whether your dumpsite might increase the risk of blockages to the Waimoko stream, which were one of the causes of the 2023 flooding of Rānui. You needn’t concern yourself with whether pollution, debris and waste from a nearby watercourse may also flow into the Waitematā Harbour and Hauraki Gulf.

Handling waste illegally

You can also handle the waste in any way you please. None of that pesky red tape.

Unlike a legal landfill operator, you don’t have to:

• differentiate between “cleanfill”, “managed fill”, “landfill”, or asbestos-contaminated fill, and manage them all differently;
• apply to the Council for resource consents or regular licences with all of their conditions;
• ensure that your illegal dumpsite reflects national standards of environmental management;
• hire appropriately trained managers to oversee the landfill operation;
• put proper management practices in place;
• be monitored by Council;
• regularly provide Council with fill sample test results;
• implement dust management and monitoring plans;
• manage discharge of noxious dust that might harm neighbours’ health; or
• contemplate the impact of diggers’ and dump trucks’ noise and vibrations upon the neighbours. 

So your illegal dumpsite business is practically guaranteed to succeed. Legal dumpsites must charge higher fees to cover costs that you simply do not have. Your prices are highly competitive and hard to resist for some developers as a result. Plus, you’re closer than the legal landfill, and time is money for dump truck operators. All of your money is made up front, in cash. No wonder legitimate landfills are being undercut by illegal dumpers.

The chances of getting caught are low

It’s easy to move about as an illegal waste operator, as any waste management activity looks legal. Illegal dump trucks careen around our roads in broad daylight, looking like they are busily doing legitimate waste work. Often, they are unmarked. Once you see them, they appear to be everywhere in Auckland.

Likewise, illegal dumpsites can look legal. Contaminated fill can look like clean fill. Waste can be covered over by clean-looking fill. Private rural land down long driveways and away from the road is often used. But if seen, illegal dumpsite operators can also breezily claim that they are just doing “a little bit of landscaping”. They can usually count on neighbours who are too afraid of neighbourly conflict to call Council to ask whether next door’s “landscaping” is consented or not. 

You can even disappear when you like. This is where operating behind a shell company (which is pretty simple to set up at the Companies Office) comes into its own. Organised waste criminals can use sophisticated techniques to hide their money and assets. They employ good lawyers and people who know how to move money and assets around quickly.  Bosses often create distance between themselves and their assets to evade capture.

And then illegal dumpsites stay hidden because waste just isn’t sexy. People want to throw things away and then forget about them. Plus reduction of our housing development waste footprint is not exactly sparkling dinner conversation. 

Our throwaway culture, including in relation to construction and demolition waste, has given birth to waste crimes that now pose a serious threat to the environment and our own health. So the topic of waste might be sparkling dinner conversation after all because our successful management of it is critical to our environmental and societal wellbeing.