An "unprecedented" increase in household waste has meant the amount of Central Otago rubbish taken to landfill went up 16% in one year - and figures are on track to increase again this year.
In the year from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, 9208 tonnes of waste was taken to the Victoria Flats landfill, up from 7909 tonnes in 2016-17.
This translated to an average 866kg of waste per property in 2017-18, up from 804kg in 2016-17.
Central Otago District Council executive manager infrastructure services Julie Muir said volumes of household waste were "on track" to increase again for the 2018-19 year.
Ms Muir said the council was renewing calls for households to join the council in "taking responsibility" for the growing volume of waste.
"We need to take urgent action to combat the alarming volume of household waste."
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan said it was vital Central Otago residents were told about the trend.
"The community needs to know that it's increasing its waste at a phenomenal rate."
Ms Muir said of the 1299 additional tonnes of waste sent to landfill in 2017-18, about 40% was glass.
This was glass that was unable to be recycled due to high contamination levels, for example items not cleaned prior to being put into bins, or being cross-contaminated with other items such as cigarette butts.
The amount of glass sent to landfill for the 2018-19 financial year was expected to be about 65% higher than the previous year, Ms Muir said.
The council believed this could be "significantly improved" with greater education and awareness, she said.
Allocating funding towards improved solutions for glass recycling was also expected to help.
Of the total rubbish taken to landfill, about 30.8% was generally organic waste, 14.1% paper, 12.8% plastic, 7.7% timber and 6.4% rubble.
