Human waste to plug extinct Auckland volcano

Auckland has come up with a novel plan for getting rid of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of human waste - use it to fill one of its many extinct volcanos, then turn it into a regional park.

Sixty-one tonnes of the stuff will be dumped each week on the volcanic island of Puketuto. In a nice surreal touch, the local authorities say the island's original volcanic cone formation may also be refashioned using the biosolids, subject to popular demand. That should bring the tourists flocking in.

Is this short-termism gone mad?

Apparently not. Auckland University vulcanologist Ian Smith said locals need not be concerned that they would be showered in "biosolids" in the event of an eruption.

"I think it is pretty safe," he told New Zealand's Dominion Post, with all due scientific gravitas.