Waikato District Council news
Waikato District Council’s inorganic service will not be taking place as usual.
The service, which is traditionally held around this time of year, wasn’t included in the refuse and recycling targeted rate for 2018/19 as this service is inconsistent with the Government’s direction to reduce waste going to landfill, Council’s Acting General Manager Service Delivery Roger MacCulloch says.
“We are working with our contractors on the timing of what a revised collection looks like and when this could occur.”
Council is asking all those who have already started to put their inorganic items out on the kerb, to bring it back onto their property.
“The long-term future of the inorganic collection will be part of a solid waste review which will be started this year and will help us form the next Long Term Plan (LTP). You will be able to give your feedback on the inorganic service as part of this review later this year,” Mr MacCulloch says.
INORGANIC – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When is the next collection?
The next collection date hasn’t been set yet. What we do know is that the inorganic service won’t be held in the 2018/19 financial year (ending June 2019). However, Council is currently working with its contractors about when the next inorganic service could be run. A decision on the future of inorganics will ultimately come back to the Councillors as part of the solid waste review.
Why is there no collection this year?
The inorganic service goes against Central Government’s direction to us to reduce waste to landfill. All items collected through inorganic go to landfill.
The collection also poses a number of challenges around cost. When the service is misused like it was last year, the cost to run the service increases. This extra cost ends up being passed to the ratepayers and this not fair to those who use it fairly.
The future of the inorganic collection will be part of a solid waste review which will start this year. This review will help us form the next Long Term Plan (LTP). You will be able to give your feedback as part of this review later this year.
How come I am paying more in my rates and I am not getting an inorganic collection?
Ratepayers did not pay for the inorganic service as part of their rates for 2018/19.
However, the targeted rate for waste collection did increase from $131 in the 2017-18 financial year to $160 in the 2018-19 financial year because:
- the cost of disposal to landfill has increased
- there is increasing amounts of waste going to landfill
- Health and Safety legislation has meant there are some changes to how collections are carried out and this has added to the cost of the contract (collection happens left side only now as opposed to before when the contractor could run across the road to collect)
- misuse of the service – the inorganic collection ends up costing more than what is budgeted (because guidelines were not followed, meaning Council had to clean up areas following the collection)
- The cost of illegal dumping through inorganic collections – during the last service there was lots of illegal dumping, which Council has a responsibility to collect
- Misuse use of the refuse service
Why weren’t we consulted prior to the removal of inorganic from our rates?
Information on reviewing the service and the timing of the service was contained in the 2018-2028 Long Term Plan consultation document. When the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan went out for consultation in May 2018, one of the activities in the action plan was to review the inorganic service as part of the solid waste review.
I’m not happy about this decision. What can I do?
You can have your say through the solid waste review, which is due to take place later this year. Alternatively you can speak with your Councillor or give us your feedback by going here.