User-pays waste scheme to begin
The rollout of a new recycling and refuse collection scheme will begin on July 1 for most of the Waikato.
The Waikato Regional Council (WRC) initiative will shift to a user-pays stickers, with the same bag system in place but requiring a $1.50 prepaid sticker displayed on it.
WRC service delivery general manager Tim Harty said the stickers could be purchased from council offices and in the future from small and large retailers.
“Everyone will also be getting a new recycling bin in mid to late June. We don’t have an exact date because it will take a while to roll those out,” he said.
Any refuse bags can be used, provided they have a sticker.
“We’re hoping that $1.50 will drive thought when residents are putting that bag out on the curb. Is everything in the bag needing to go to landfill or could I be recycling it?”
The new recycling crates will be similar to those already used elsewhere in the country.
Areas in the north of the Waikato like Pokeno and Onewhero, which do not currently get a recycling service, will be receiving recycling crates as well.
A previous bag survey performed by the Waikato Regional Council found that an average of 64 per cent of rubbish currently put in bags could either be composted or recycled.
The only exceptions to the new system are Raglan, which will continue to use the same user-pays bags they already have, and Tuakau which will keep its existing wheelie bins and move to a pay-per-lift service.
The movement to a user-pay system was originally put out as part of the council’s Long Term Plan process, and following public consultation council decided to progress the scheme.