Not many residents are aware that Auckland Council is proposing a targeted rate of $67 per year to fund a food scrap collection once a week.
It will mean a third small (bucket) bin to which will be collected every second week.
According to Waste Management staff, the red lidded-bin which is for general waste will be checked and if food waste has been binned inside, a sticker would go on it and the bin will not be collected.
The new bucket bins will be hand-picked and emptied into another contractor’s truck.
A consultation summary of Draft Auckland Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2018 says: “Nearly half the weight of an average household rubbish bin is food. It generates unwanted greenhouse gases in landfills and we think there’s a better way to manage it – by introducing a kerbside collection for food scraps across urban Auckland.
“We can process food waste for useful purposes, such as making compost or generating energy.
“We’ll also keep supporting initiatives to help you reduce the amount of food waste you produce, and to compost at home. Over time, as weekly collections of food scraps remove the largest (and often smelliest) volume of waste from bins, we expect to be able to reduce refuse collection to a fortnightly service.”
The bins have already been delivered to some areas of Papakura and have had residents complain of maggots and blow flies hanging around the bins.
“If you forget to put the bin out one week, it will be two weeks of blow flies. The light bucket bins also tend to be blown on the road,” says a resident.
Some people have commented on social media about forgotten rubbish being dumped into parks and streams or into other people’s general waste bins.
Auckland Councillor Sharon Stewart is disappointed that there has been no public consultation for the food waste bins considering the deadline for Auckland Have Your Say is just a couple of hours away.
She says she has had calls from concerned residents asking about the small food waste bin. “People are having trouble finding any mention on the forms about the proposed targeted rate of $67,” she says.
Mrs Stewart wants to make sure everyone has been consulted.
“Elected councillors will be considering your feedback– this is just one of the questions being asked on the AK Have Your Say.”
The Times contacted Auckland Council’s Waste Management team and is still awaiting a response.
