Future of Rubbish

John Gillon from

Some parts of Auckland pay each time their rubbish is collected through rubbish tags (called "Pay-As-You-Throw") while others pay an extra charge on their rates. On 14 October, Auckland Council is going to be considering whether to adopt a standard method across Auckland, or continue with a mix. They will also be considering whether to reduce the number of collections from weekly to fortnightly after the food scrap collection begins in 2023.

A recent review by Council has found that:
* there is NO evidence that Pay-As-You-Throw reduces the amount of rubbish per household, and
* Pay-As-You-Throw is "less cost-effective for the council than rates-funded solutions because of more complex systems, duplication of workloads by multiple suppliers, and the council's need to offer the service to properties across the entire region."
* Pay-As-You-Throw results in "more truck kilometres per year to deliver the service, resulting in worse outcomes for vehicle emissions, road wear, street amenity, health and safety and traffic congestion".

On Wednesday the Kaipātiki Local Board resolved that it:
* supports a transition to a rates-funded refuse service
* supports moving the general rubbish collection from weekly to fortnightly (3 board members including myself opposed this)
* supports retaining bins rather than bags for general waste
* supports retaining a fortnightly rates-funded recycling service
* supports the introduction of a rates-funded food scrap collection
* request that the council work with the Government to put a greater onus of reducing waste onto manufacturers and retailers, through systems such as the German Green Dot (Der Grüne Punkt) scheme
* requests that the council work with other councils in New Zealand to develop consistency in recycling practices.

This feedback and feedback from other local boards will now go to council's Environment and Climate Change Committee on 14 October to make a decision on the way forward.
If that decision is to change from the planned move to PAYT for everyone, then there will be public consultation in 2022/23.

If you'd like more info on the review and the conclusions it came to, you can read the memo here:
www.johngillon.co.nz...