There will be no rebate for Rotorua ratepayers despite the three-month delay for a new kerbside collection service that is set to start next week.
By Mathew Nash of Local Democracy Reporting
While the new system is still copping flak on social media, the Rotorua Lakes Council maintains the benefits will outweigh the costs.
About 26,000 properties have been delivered new bins for weekly food scraps and garden (FOGO) waste collections, with general rubbish pick-ups moving to fortnightly from October 1.
The rollout was previously scheduled to start on July 1, but it was delayed after bin supply issues related to the ongoing conflict in Iran.
This left some residents questioning why they were still charged for a full year of FOGO in their rates.
The annual charge for the new organics service is $27.52, so three months’ worth would be $6.88, or $176,800 across all affected households.
The council’s waste and climate change manager, Craig Goodwin, said no rebates or rates adjustments would be offered.
“The rate covers the full cost of establishing and delivering the service, including bin purchases, system set-up, communications, contracts and other implementation costs, many of which have already been incurred,” he said.
He also addressed criticism by residents who say they already compost at home, are concerned about reduced rubbish collection frequency, or disagree with paying for a service they may not use.
On the council’s social media, some critics called the new system a "waste of time" or a "smelly disaster" in waiting. Other comments were more positive, mentioning the expected reduction in waste sent to landfill and a more sustainable new system.
Goodwin told Local Democracy Reporting food and garden waste made up a significant share of the rubbish being sent to landfill.
"Diverting this material from landfill will help constrain escalating waste management costs driven by landfilling taxes, lower emissions to the environment, and support more sustainable long-term waste management for Rotorua," he said.
Goodwin said waste audits showed food and garden waste made up more than half the material currently going into household rubbish bins.
"This evidence informed community consultation in 2022, where 85% of respondents supported an organics collection service and most also supported moving to fortnightly rubbish collections alongside it."
Residents have also raised hygiene concerns about the move to fortnightly rubbish collections, especially those with small children or medical needs.
Goodwin said households would have more overall waste collection capacity under the new system.
Those needing more capacity could request larger or extra rubbish bins for a fee.
As for residents who already compost, Goodwin said properties contributed to the cost of FOGO in the same way they contributed to other council services.
"Properties within the service area contribute to the overall cost of providing the collective service regardless of individual use," he said.
He said the council would “continue to support home composting”, with FOGO seen as an additional option for food scraps and other more difficult-to-compost materials.
The council has also run a marketing campaign before the launch, although the final cost is not yet known with much of the work done in-house and supported by funding from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Levy Fund, Goodwin said.
The council would assess the success of the rollout through participation rates, contamination levels, customer feedback and the amount of organic waste diverted from landfill.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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