Tauranga residents will be charged a new target fee for sidewalk debris collection

Tauranga residents will be charged a new target rate for introducing curbside garbage pickups for all households next year.

The new service, which will initially cost $ 230, including GST for the first year, will run from July 1, 2021 and will be charged through a new target rate that includes the existing $ 37-a-year charge for the glass recycling.

This means that weekly food scraps and biweekly garbage and recycling pickups will be added to existing glass recycling pickups.

In a press release issued by the Tauranga City Council, he said he believed the new charge would replace the costs that the vast majority of households currently pay for curbside pickups.

Households can also choose to opt for a monthly yard waste service funded with an additional $ 60 fees, including GST, for the first year.

“Almost 70 percent of Tauranga’s household waste sent to landfill could be recycled or composted. The service is expected to cut the amount of waste each household sends to landfill by half by 2028,” the press release said. .

Mayor Tenby Powell said a fee-funded system would make waste reduction easier, more accessible and more affordable for the community as a whole.

“Other municipalities that have introduced similar services have seen a large reduction in household waste going to the landfill and we expect a similar result in Tauranga.”

The council recognized that the collection service would be a big change for the city.

“We know that some businesses that currently operate curbside waste collections will be adversely affected by this decision, and that is cause for regret in these difficult times,” Powell said.

“However, this is one of those times when we have to make a difficult decision to get the best result for our community and the environment.”

The decision to introduce curbside waste collection follows a successful procurement process, which means that most households will see their current waste disposal costs reduced while receiving a more comprehensive service.

The annual cost of the new service is the same as using a bag and a half of garbage a week, and significantly less than the $ 515 a year paid by the average household that only uses private garbage collection and recycling, according to market research. .

The council statement said that the majority of community feedback received through the 2018-28 Long Term Plan was in favor of introducing a fee-funded service.

The new service is aligned with the municipality’s waste minimization and management plan and supports a circular economy.

The council also believed that the pickups would result in fewer trucks on residential streets, fewer trips to the transfer station, and would help mitigate the impact of rising landfill costs.

The city council garbage bag collection will stop when the new service begins, however the transfer stations will continue to operate.

Infrastructure General Manager Nic Johansson said he listened to the community and learned that a “one size fits all” service was not preferred and that an incentive for households to reduce overall waste was strongly desired.

“That is why we have decided to have different size containers for garbage and recycling. However, we have learned from other tips that it is better to keep the implementation as simple as possible, so we opted to use a standard size and cost container of the garbage and recycling during the first year.

“Then, once the community has gotten used to the new service, we can begin to incentivize households to reduce their waste by choosing smaller or cheaper containers for trash and recycling.”

The council is partnering with EnviroWaste to provide the curbside collections.

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council also partnered with EnviroWaste to introduce curbside trash collection, but with a “pay-as-you-go” garbage collection service rather than a fee-funded service.

The district council’s decision to provide a fee-for-littering service was the result of a community consultation that showed this to be the preferred option.

How will it work?

For the first year, all households will receive a 140-liter garbage container, a 240-liter recycling container, and a 23-liter food waste container to add to their existing 45-liter glass recycling box.

Other municipalities with a similar service have found these sizes to fit most households.

After the first year of service, taxpayers can select from different sized garbage and recycling bins to meet the particular needs of their home, with reduced rates for smaller containers and higher rates for larger containers.