The mammoth task of delivering 165,000 new recycling, rubbish and food scraps bins to 55,000 Tauranga households will be completed this week.
The last of the bins are on track to be delivered to Mount Maunganui households this week, following a city-wide rollout which began in March.
All that remain are bin deliveries for the 116 multi-unit dwellings such as apartments and care villages, where some have chosen to have shared rubbish and recycling collection points. Council is continuing to work closely with building owners and residents to determine the number of bins they need.
The new rates-funded kerbside collection service, which aims to halve the amount of household waste Tauranga residents send to landfill by 2028, begins in July.
Sustainability and Waste Manager Sam Fellows says almost 70% of the household waste that Tauranga residents send to landfill could be recycled or composted.
“The new kerbside collection service is a more convenient and sustainable solution for our community and for our environment.
“We know that success will require more effort from residents, especially those who have been using plastic rubbish bags up until now, or who may not have been recycling. Together, as kaitiaki (guardians and protectors) of our land we have a responsibility to do this.
“Reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill will also help mitigate the future impact on our community of rising landfill costs due to increases in the waste levy and will support reducing overall emissions.”
The new service includes a weekly food scraps collection, which aims to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfill when it could be composted.
Currently, 33% of Tauranga’s household waste sent to landfill is food scraps.
“When food ends up in landfill, it rots without oxygen and releases methane, a gas that’s harmful to our environment and contributes to climate change. By using the food scraps bin for your leftover food, fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and bones, egg and seafood shells, we can reduce the amount of food we send to landfill and in turn reduce the cost to our environment.
“And using your new weekly food scraps bin and fortnightly recycling collection service will free up space in your rubbish bin for the stuff that can’t be reused, recycled or composted.”
Collection days will remain the same as they always have been. If you’re unsure what week your fortnightly rubbish and recycling bins will be collected, look on the side of your bins and check out the calendar in the brochure in your food scraps bin (which is inside the red-lid wheelie bin).
The calendar is also on our website.
