What to do with waste in an earthquake or emergency aftermath

In the event of an AF8 earthquake there will be general household waste continuing to accumulate from daily activities, such as food packaging, sanitary items and nappies. There may also be waste created by the event, such as debris, damaged household items and building materials.

It is highly likely that kerbside waste and recycling collections will be disrupted and unable to operate as usual, across the wider district. This will depend on the magnitude and damage and may vary from location to location. Waste transfer stations may also not be able to open. It is best to be prepared to deal with waste from your household for a period of time and plan for this in your emergency kit.

• The most important goal for managing waste after an earthquake is to protect public health for your family and community.

Household waste:

• If you are able, please keep your usual waste management habits, with glass going into the blue bin and recyclable items into the yellow bin. Water may be scarce so these may not be able to be rinsed at this time.
• Household waste might have filled your red bin and need to be stored on your property for some time before waste collection services resume.
• Think about where you could store waste on your property if your general waste bin gets full. This needs to be somewhere away from your living areas and that animals and vermin cannot access.
• Think about what may need to be included in your emergency supplies to manage this. We would recommend that a roll of heavy-duty rubbish sacks with tie tops, disposable gloves, and hand sanitiser are included.
• If you or a pet live with a medical condition that creates specific types of medical waste, please consider this when you plan for your household. You may need extra rubbish sacks or a solid container like an old ice cream container for sharps/needles. Consider double bagging any items that might leak or cause smells.
• Food scraps will get smelly and attract flies and vermin in the green bin if unable to be collected. These can be bagged separately and tied tightly. If you are able, you could dig a hole and bury food scraps directly in your garden. This will help cut down the smell of your rubbish bags and make them less attractive to vermin. The hole needs to be deep enough to have at least 25cm soil covering organic material, and be sited away from waterways, bores and property boundaries.
• To reduce food waste, if you are able to access them, use perishable food from your fridge or freezer first before using any canned or dried food.
• While the power is off, help keep chilled or frozen food safe to eat for longer by minimising how long fridges and freezers are open to keep the cold in.
• Make sure you understand what food could be safe to eat and that you check any perishable food before eating. Does the food look or smell different? Has the colour changed, or does it have a slimy texture? If so, it is probably unsafe to eat.
• In a prolonged time without power, once you have eaten any perishable food and it starts to go off, please leave it in the fridge or freezer until a waste collection service resumes. Removing spoiled food into rubbish bags will only increase smells, flies and vermin. Mark the fridge and freezer as “Do Not Eat” with tape or write on doors with marker pen.
• If you have waste created by the earthquake event, such as debris, damaged household items, or building materials, please help us out by keeping these within your property boundaries. This will keep roadways as clear as possible for emergency vehicles. Don’t remove debris or damaged items from the property until you are advised to by the Emergency Management team.
• For more information on waste collections as the situation develops, and advice on debris removal, please keep up to date with CODC communications via radio, website and social media, in conjunction with the Otago Emergency Management team.

Business waste:

• You may not be able to access your place of business/work after an AF8 earthquake for some time.
• If you are able to access your business and you are able, or required to operate, please consider the waste that will be created and what to do with this. If you are a key service provider, discuss this with the Emergency Management team.
• Consider waste as part of your business continuity plan – both waste created by day-to-day business and that might have been caused by an earthquake.
• Please make use of any on-site storage you have for waste to ensure the protection of public health. If the power is off, unused cold stores or chillers could store perishable goods that are unable to be used/sold until a waste collection service is in place. Make sure these are well marked as “Do Not Use” and understood by staff that this is a waste area. Basements, sheds and yards away from public areas and goods storage that can be secured from animals and vermin can also be used for waste.
• With debris or damaged items caused by the earthquake, please help us out by keeping these within your property boundaries. This will keep roadways as clear as possible for emergency vehicles. Don’t remove debris or damaged items from the property until you are advised to by the Emergency Management team.
• For more information on waste collections as the situation develops, and advice on debris removal please keep up to date with CODC communications via radio, website and social media, in conjunction with the Otago Emergency Management team.

For more information on emergency situations see also the Otago Emergency Management website: Home | Otago CDEM Group, specifically on AF8: Earthquakes | Home