Rubbish and recycling bins hitting the kerbside from next week

The first of Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s 62,000 bins for the new kerbside waste and recycling collections will be delivered from Wednesday, 5 May.

The new rubbish, recycling, glass and food scraps bins will be delivered to 17,000 eligible households throughout May, ahead of the first collections beginning Thursday, 1 July.

The bins will be delivered in weekly stages across the Council’s three Wards, starting in Waihī Beach on Wednesday, 5 May and moving down the District.

Bin delivery schedule

Council’s Kerbside Services Project Manager, Ken Buckley says households will receive one of two bins sets depending on where they live in the District and how that correlates to the new service.

A full kerbside waste and recycling service will be provided to those located within the ‘Urban’ zone and includes a 140L rubbish bin, 240L recycling bin, 45L glass crate and 23L lockable food scraps bin.

A partial kerbside waste and recycling service will be provided to those located within the ‘Rural’ zone and includes a 140L rubbish bin, 240L recycling bin and 45L glass crate.

For all serviced households there will be a $3.95 per pick-up for general rubbish – a cost only charged when people attach a pre-paid pay-as-you-throw tag to their red lid rubbish bin. This service is available each week. Pay-as-you-throw tags can be purchased from Council’s library and service centres and other retailers from 1 June 2021.

The cost of the kerbside services will be charged through an annual targeted rate. The full service cost is $149 and households receive mixed recycling, glass and food scraps collections. The partial service cost is $98 for recycling and glass collections, but no food scraps collection. The $3.95 pay per pick-up for general rubbish is additional.

“Delivering 62,000 bins to 17,000 households is not a small task. We ask for patience and understanding as we roll out the bins to households in a service designed to increase the amount of material diverted from landfill by about 60 percent – around 1800 tonnes a year,” says Ken.

The timeframes given above are estimates, and Council will be providing regular updates on the progress of bin roll out on its Facebook page, the Antenno app and on the Kerbside Collective website.

The new bins will be delivered to the kerbside of your address. Please note, that the rubbish and recycling bins may not arrive on the same day.

“When your new bins are delivered, please check that the property address on the side of the bins is correct and then wheel them inside your property until the new kerbside collections begin in July. Please do not use the bins before 1 July.”

If the address is incorrect please contact Council’s customer service team.

An information brochure along with a 12-month collection calendar will be inside the blue glass crate. Please remove this brochure and keep it in a safe, dry place for future reference. The collection calendar shows households when their first collection for each bin will be in July, as well as timings for all collections for the next 12 months.

“We need to adopt a more serious approach to minimising the waste we create. Dealing with our waste and recycling effectively is critical to ensure we can reduce the amount of waste going to landfills,” says Ken.

“A rates-funded recycling system makes it easier for all households to participate in waste reduction, resulting in less household waste going to landfill, as proven by other New Zealand councils who have successfully adopted this system.”

For more information visit www.kerbsidecollective.co.nz