Your kerbside summer services: dates and extra collections

Western Bay of Plenty District Council has your back with all you need to know to manage your rubbish and recycling this summer.

As always, the holiday season brings changes to kerbside collections.

We're rolling out extra collections in Waihī Beach, Bowentown, Athenree (beach areas), and Pukehina Parade over late December and January. This is to cover the extra people in these holiday hotspots.

And with Christmas and New Year’s Day falling on weekdays this year, there are changes to your normal kerbside collection days over these two weeks.

Right across the District we’re collecting your bins one day later than usual from Tuesday 26 December to Saturday 6 January. This is to give our kerbside collections team a well-deserved break on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Council's Solid Waste Contract Manager, Tony Wilson, says the contractors work hard throughout the year and deserve a well-earned break. “Our kerbside collection teams are out there rain, hail or shine, so it’s great we can give them both days off to spend with their families.”

Here’s the details:

Waihī Beach, Bowentown, Athenree and Pukehina

• Tuesday 26 December - Waihī Beach, Bowentown and Athenree will have all bins collected, instead of on Monday 25th December (Christmas Day)
• Saturday 30 December - Waihī Beach, Bowentown and Athenree (beach areas) will have glass, food scraps and rubbish collected, while all of Pukehina will have rubbish and recycling, and Pukehina Parade will also have an extra glass collection
• Tuesday 2 January 2024 - Waihī Beach, Bowentown and Athenree will have all bins collected, instead of on Monday 1 January (New Year’s Day)
• Saturday 6 January 2024 - Waihī Beach, Bowentown, Athenree (beach areas) and Pukehina will have food scraps, rubbish and glass collected
• From Friday 12 January 2024 kerbside collections will go back to Fridays for Pukehina (normal collection)
• From Monday 8 January 2024 normal summer collection of all bins will go back to Mondays for Waihī Beach, Bowentown and Athenree. On Fridays there will also be extra rubbish and food collections for Waihī Beach, Bowentown and Athenree (beach areas) until 3 February
• From Monday 5 February 2024 normal kerbside collection services will resume in Waihī Beach, Bowentown and Athenree (no extra collection on Fridays)

All other kerbside collection areas

• From Tuesday 26 December to Monday 8 January 2024 – all collections will be bumped one day forward. If your normal collection day is a Tuesday, it will move to a Wednesday, Thursday collections will happen on a Friday, etc. If you are not sure of your days, visit our kerbside page for collection days.

Tony says Waihī Beach, Athenree and Bowentown are hotspots, especially during summer.

“More people means more waste, and we're committed to helping you and our visitors tackle it with extra kerbside collections.

“Nobody wants overflowing bins. They attract pests, start to smell, and litter the environment. So, take advantage of these extra collections and clue in your guests about the summer schedule,” says Tony.

Don’t forget our super simple pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) tag system. Red rubbish bins won't get emptied without those pre-purchased PAYT tags properly looped through the black and red handles. Visit kerbsidecollective.co.nz/payt/ for all locations you can purchase PAYT tags.

You can also download the Antenno app and receive notifications the day before your collection day to jog your memory about putting out the bins. Visit westernbay.govt.nz/antenno.

Top tips for smooth kerbside collections:

• Don't pack the blue glass crate to the brim; keep it level with the top lip
• Pop your bins on the ‘kerb’ by 7am in an easy-to-reach spot
• Don't forget to attach PAYT tags correctly to your red rubbish bin
• Keep bins at least 30cm apart, and make sure the food scraps bin is visible from the road for the driver
• Got extra recycling? Drop it off at any of our recycling centres. Check the holiday hours at westernbay.govt.nz/summerinfo

For more information, visit kerbsidecollective.co.nz.