Te para me te hangarua | Rubbish and recycling

Kia ora John. Green waste is biodegradable and can be processed for re-use.

Green waste like lawn clippings or tree branches takes up valuable space already in the landfill. This sort of material is easily compostable and wherever possible should be diverted from simply being thrown away.

Households would only pay for the green waste service if they choose to opt-in. The green waste bin would only be available for garden waste, not food waste. If this option is approved then you would need to tell us by 31 March each year if you want to use the service.

The cost of the green waste service would be added to your rates and is estimated at $95 per property/year.

Hi. Thanks for using Have Your Say.
Because of the problems experienced with the rubbish bag collection service, including health and safety risks for the people who collect rubbish bags and the risk of damage from animals, Council will not be continuing a rubbish service using rubbish bags.

Kia ora Jeremy. Thanks for using Have Your Say. 

Both Option 1 and Option 3 offer a range of bin sizes to meet household needs. Either a 240-litre, 120-litre, or 80-litre bin could be selected. Bin sizes would need to be selected by 31 March each year because of the way rates are set.

Kia ora Max. Thanks for using Have Your Say.

We’re assuming you’re talking about a 240-litre bin for rubbish collection. This is part of Option 3– an 80-litre, or 120-litre or 240-litre bin could be selected for weekly collection. The size of bin would have to be selected by 31 March each year because of the way rates are set. Please take a look at the Rubbish and recycling cost calculator to work out the estimated costs for the different bin sizes.

More than 4,600 people completed our Korero Mai | Talk with us survey between 18 December 2019 and Wednesday 22 January 2020. Most respondents (82%) were Lower Hutt residents. Of the 3,737 residents (the 82%), a total of 66% of respondents used a private wheelie bin service. Of those households, 49% used a 240-litre rubbish bin.

Hi Jeremy. We will encourage landlords and tenants to talk about their requirements and to select an appropriate bin size. We are aware that some landlords currently supply large wheelie bins to their tenants, in order to avoid the situation of rubbish piling up.

The charges in relation to Option 1 and Option 3 are dependent on the bin size chosen - for individual household requirements. Therefore, the different charges corresponding to bin size do offer some economic incentive for behaviour change, such as reducing waste.

Hi Jeremy. Thanks for using Have Your Say. As part of its review process, Council identified four options that it is now consulting the community on. In rubbish collection Option 2 and Option 4, those households that have existing agreements with relevant service providers could continue with those. If you have not already done so, please let us know what you think in the feedback form. Council will make decisions in mid-September.

Kia ora Donna. Thanks for using Have Your Say. Following Council decisions in mid-September, officers would finalise contract negotiations with the preferred supplier that submitted to the recycling collection service tender, and would confirm the implementation approach. It appears possible that crates that are already in place could be repurposed for glass only, but we won’t be able to confirm this until after the procurement process is formally complete. In that scenario, those properties that do not currently have a crate or where the crate is no longer fit for purpose (eg, broken) would be supplied with a new crate.

With regard to the flexi-nets, it’s unlikely that nets would be necessary as crates would only be used for glass in the future. Glass materials are heavy and bulky, so they’re less likely to ‘fly out’ like paper or plastic materials do now.

Kia ora Pete. Thanks for using Have Your Say. The business case did not include a fortnightly rates-funded rubbish bin as a shortlisted option. However, this was added to the options presented to Council following feedback from Council’s Corporate Leadership Team based on overseas experience and considering that a separate green waste collection reduces the need for weekly refuse collection.

With regard to the targeted rate for recycling, and potentially rubbish if option 1 or 3 are chosen, a proportionate charge based on property value was not considered, as there is no clear link between property values and the amount of waste produced in the associated household.

It is likely that small households, or those that minimise waste, recycle and divert green waste, have a reduced need for waste collection. Therefore, Council’s (rates-funded rubbish bin) proposals include the ability of households to choose the size of bin that suits their needs (corresponding with the associated cost of a smaller or larger bin).

Kia ora Tom. Thanks for using Have Your Say. The procurement process for the new recycling and rubbish collections options is being run in parallel, albeit decisions on a preferred supplier are not made until after Council has made decisions on its preferred collection methodology. Depending on Council decisions, officers would finalise contract negotiations with the preferred supplier that submitted the associated collection service tenders. If Council were to opt for option 4, then none of the tendered rubbish collection tenders would be taken forward.

The detailed Request for Proposal on GETS enabled suppliers to bid on any of the recycling and/or rubbish collection options 1, 2 and 3 (fortnightly rates-funded, PAYT, and also weekly rates-funded). For example, suppliers were able to submit a tender for PAYT or rates-funded refuse collection, or both. Note that you have to log into GETS in order to view the detailed tender documentation; the overview only provides a high level summary.