Wairoa District Council is proposing a new kerbside collection service including weekly food and green waste collection and the introduction of wheelie bins to replace the current user-pays bags for refuse. We want to hear from you so have a look through the information below and have your say by submitting online.

Council is looking to introduce an organics collection in accordance with the direction in the NZ Waste Strategy 2023 and because we believe the local re-use of organics is a better outcome than landfill. We recognise that organic waste (leftover food & garden waste) can more readily be managed within rural communities, so we are proposing two different service types.

SERVICE TYPE 1 - URBAN

WAIROA, FRASERTOWN, NUHAKA, MAHIA

A kerbside collection service for refuse, co-mingled recycling and organics for each property. This expands on the current service and introduces a kerbside collection for food waste.

SERVICE TYPE 2 - RURAL

TUAI, RAUPUNGA, TE REINGA, RAUKITURI, ETC.

Kerbside service for refuse with fixed collection points for recycling (current service). The proposed service introduces wheelie bins for refuse and retains the current crates for recycling.

COMPARISON OF WASTE DISPOSAL SERVICES

Are you keen to learn more about our proposed service? We have put together a comparison between our proposed option and other available waste disposal services. Click the image below to learn more.

Up to 33% of materials found in the kerbside refuse bags is made up of food waste and up to 32% are recyclable materials. This means that nearly two thirds of the materials currently in our waste could be diverted from the landfill. We could achieve this by increasing the kerbside collection of recycling and by introducing a weekly food waste collection. We could divert up to 213 tonnes per year from landfill. Adding garden waste means that we could divert more than 1,100 tonnes per year.

­Managing waste is a community issue and a journey everyone needs to be on. Solid waste management now and into the future is paramount. We need infrastructure to meet waste requirements. Our focus needs to be on waste minimisation with everyone encouraged to take responsibility for their own waste generation and actively be better kaitiaki.

Waste minimisation is broader than recycling, it is about:

• preventing waste from being created
• reducing consumption
• reusing where we can recycle
• recovering resources where possible

If we focus on reduce, re-use, recycle and compost and recover it is only the residual waste that then needs to go to landfill as a last option.