In a tight vote, Auckland's councillors have approved a more aggressive approach towards smaller kerbside rubbish bin sizes, with the aim of reducing the amount of waste being taken to tips.
It means 80-litre bins are set to become the default option and, after consultation, people could end up paying more for larger bins.
Deputy mayor Desley Simpson was one of those who voted for the change.
She told RNZ there was a problem with rubbish in the city and it was getting bigger as the population grew.
The council had two landfills at present, and it was really hard to find another site because no one wanted to live near them.
"We're having incredible trouble trying to create new landfills – no one wants them."
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The new Dome Valley one was being delayed by environmental and other legal challenges, she said.
The current bigger red bins would not be taken away from households, Simpson said. However, if they opted for the smaller 80-litre bins, they would pay less for rubbish disposal.
When new bins were delivered, residents would still receive three – for recycling, general rubbish and food scraps.
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The contents of red bins had been analysed, and just under half should be going into people's recycling or food waste bins.
Simpson said people weren't using their food scrap bins and she was among those who were initially reluctant before a change of heart.
"I was amazed at how quickly it filled up and more amazing for me, was that the fact that my red bin or general rubbish bin had much less rubbish in it.
"Please give it a go because it will make a huge difference to the amount of general rubbish going to landfill and we need to reduce that... it makes a huge difference."
'We have to do something as a city'
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It cost the council to send rubbish to a landfill and the better environmental option was to use smaller red bins and the green food scrap bins.
The contents of the food waste bins were turned into liquid fertiliser and natural energy, she said.
"We have to do something as a city and it's up to all of us, every single one of us, to do as much as we can to reduce the amount of landfill waste."
However, Manurewa-Papakura Ward Councillor Daniel Newman said the default of a 120-litre kerbside bin collected weekly was widely accepted.
Changing that would be "highly contentious across every Auckland postcode", he said in a statement.
"There are countless risks with where Council could be heading: significantly higher prices for larger bins; an increase of illegal dumping if the default bin size were to drop from 120 to 80 litres; and choice around bin sizes remains only available to landlords but not tenants."
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