Rubbish bags out, bins in

There is one more step to go before New Plymouth’s red rubbish bags are tossed out in favour of wheelie bins.

Proposed changes to the district’s kerbside collection would introduce a 20 litre sealable bin for food waste that would be collected weekly, with residents also getting a small kitchen bench caddy and compostable bags.

But the changes have to go through the long term plan (LTP) process, which would include public consultation early next year, New Plymouth District Council chief operating officer Kelvin Wright said.

‘‘If the new system is approved through the LTP, it will likely be rolled out in October 2019.’’

Other changes include rubbish being collected fortnightly from a

120 litre bin - the same volume currently provided by the weekly 60L rubbish bag, with users able to request a smaller 80L bin if they wish, Wright said.

‘‘People will be able to keep their current 240L recycling bin – or request a smaller one – and this will still be collected fortnightly. The blue glass crate would remain the same.’’

The cost is estimated to be an extra $36 on the average rate in

2019/20 compared to the previous year - or an increase of $65 compared to this year’s uniform annual charge, Wright said.

‘‘The back-door collection will be subsidised by 50 per cent from

1st July 2018. Currently the cost is $77.10 so it will be half this.’’

But there will be no provision for a green waste collection.

New Plymouth District Council zero waste committee chairman Richard Handley said green waste is pretty well catered for by private enterprise.

‘‘There’s a number of contractors who do that and we think that council shouldn’t go into competition with commercial operators. They’re doing a good job.

‘‘We will be encouraging them not to put green waste in the landfill. That green waste can be used and composted and that’s what we’ll be encouraging them to do.’’

Getting rid of the rubbish bags was a step in the right direction, he said.

‘‘Bags are dinosaurs of the past, really. And putting plastic into the landfill is old technology and we’ve just got to stop doing that stuff.’’

The whole waste management and minimisation plan is heading towards the council’s goal of having zero waste in by 2040, Handley said.

‘‘It reorganises how we are going to gather our waste. We’re talking about kitchen waste being collected separately. We’re talking about much more recycling. We’re talking about diverting tens of thousands of tonnes away from the landfill.’’

The new landfill at Eltham is going to cost between $40m and $50m over its life, he said.

‘‘And to build a huge hole in the ground just to tip in rubbish is a pretty stupid thing to do when we’re becoming so environmentally sensible.

‘‘And it’s an awful lot of money to spend when we could be using that money for other things. The more we divert into other things the less is spent carting it down to Eltham.’’

Over the next six years the NPDC hopes to divert about 20,000 tonnes away from the landfill each year, he said.

‘‘The community is really getting on board - there is a revolution is taking place.’’

Taranaki Chamber of Commerce chief executive Arun Chaudhari said there was no rubbish collection in the CBD.

‘‘All the different businesses make own arrangements to get rid of their waste. There’s plastics going to landfill, which is a crying shame.’’

They were working with the council to try to reduce the waste going to the landfill, he said.