$80 Raglan rate proposed to pay for food waste collection

Waikato District Council is proposing an $80 additional annual Raglan rate to pay for continuation of Raglan’s kerbside food waste collection.

In August 2017, Waikato District Council partnered with Xtreme Zero Waste and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) to offer Raglan residents a kerbside food waste collection service.  This service was requested by the Raglan community and up until this point has been fully funded by Council, MfE and Xtreme Zero Waste.

This service has seen Raglan residents who already receive a kerbside refuse and recycling collection provided with a kitchen caddy, kerbside bin, compostable food waste bags and the collection of their food waste weekly, alongside their refuse and recycling.

The collected food waste is mixed with green waste and composted in a Horizontal Composting Unit (HCU) at Xtreme Zero Waste on Te Hutewai Road, creating soil enhancing nutritious compost, which is made available back to the community. Collecting food waste in this way means less waste overall goes to landfill.

The Council has now opened consultation on a proposed targeted rate for Raglan’s kerbside food waste collection service

Raglan residents are being asked if they would be prepared to pay a targeted rate for the continuation of the town’s kerbside food waste collection service.

The service has been running since August 2017 and residents are being asked if they would be willing to pay $1.52 per week (or $79.29 per year) to have the weekly collection service continue as normal.

Along with asking if residents would be willing to pay the proposed targeted rate, Council is also asking for feedback on whether or not they use the service and if they value it.

Council understands the service has been working successfully in Raglan, having collected 218 tons of food waste from the community in the past 18 months and diverting it from landfill. The fully-funded service period is due to finish at the end of June 2019.

Have your say by 5pm Friday, 26 April 2019.

You can make a submission in any of the following ways:

If you would like any further information on the proposal you can visit www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/foodwaste.

 

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