Call to ban sink waste disposals

A Palmerston North civic leader and former mayoral candidate has called for under-sink food gurglers to be banned.

Lew Findlay said he was astounded people still used the antiquated food-munching devices.

‘‘I would love to see a bylaw to stop Insinkerators even being allowed to be put in.’’

His attack on the devices was prompted by a city council planning and strategy committee debate about whether to consider introducing a kerbside food waste collection service.

Waste management manager Stewart Hay said a local waste survey and information from other councils suggested Palmerston North households each threw out about 3 kilograms of food waste every week.

Food waste made up about 30 per cent of what people put out with the trash.

That meant about 3000 tonnes of wasted food could be potentially captured and removed from the rubbish going to the landfill each year.

If collected, it could be turned into compost instead.

Four councils around New Zealand already collect food waste, either separately or mixed with green waste, Auckland is rolling out a food waste collection, and six others are considering it.

Findlay said his opposition to putting food down the sink was about the costs of extracting the food from the water that came in to the wastewater plant and treating it before it could be discharged to the Manawatu¯ River.

Cr Rachel Bowen said she thought the council had ‘‘missed a step’’ in explaining to people why food waste should be dealt with at home or at least separately from other waste or wastewater.

‘‘We are a long way from people understanding that it’s a good idea to charge them an extra $50 a year to do this.’’

Cr Susan Baty said she would not be happy paying extra on her rates for a service she would not use, as most of her food scraps went to the dog even before she considered using her own compost bin.

‘‘We should look at how to get rid of this stuff onsite before we start offering to collect it.’’

‘‘I am astounded people still used the antiquated food-munching devices.’’ Lew Findlay

The council is likely to consult the public about whether they want to have food scraps collected, at a likely cost of about $50 a year per property, when it puts out a draft waste management and minimisation plan to be considered in December.

‘‘We do not know if there is an appetite for this,’’ said Cr Lorna Johnson.

‘‘A lot of people are not going to appreciate it and I do not think it would be palatable.’’

Green Party councillor Brent Barrett said he thought it was a mistake for councillors to assume everyone else was as responsible about their food waste disposal as they were.

‘‘The reality is that 100 per cent of bags we looked in had food waste in them.’’

A separate food waste collection would have huge benefits if it could stop 3000 tonnes of it being taken by truck to the Bonny Glen landfill to be buried forever, he said.

The council does not yet have any money in its budget for a trial or implementation of a food waste collection service.