Frequently Asked Questions

Following consultation with our community in November 2019, Council resolved to introduce wheelie bins for rubbish and recycling for the urban rubbish and recycling service. Glass will remain in the existing crates.

This change was meant to start back in July 2020 however the effects of COVID-19 worldwide delayed the rollout of wheelie bins.

Since promotion started, rollout has again been delayed until Monday 6 September 2021.

The introduction of wheelie bins across the South Waikato will mean the green rubbish bags will no longer be in use for kerbside collection after Monday 6 September.

Wheelie bins will be delivered across the district during July and August. The new rubbish and recycling collections using the wheelie bins will start on Monday 6 September. The light purple areas in the existing recycling calendar (ie, Arapuni and Tirau) are the FIRST areas to use the new system.

Collection days don’t change for any area!

This website contains a lot of information. Over the coming months information will also be provided using several tactics including social media, Antenno, advertising, website, engagement opportunities, billboards, mail drops and rates notices.

Residents will have their wheelie bins delivered to their addresses by our contractor.

Urban residents across the South Waikato will receive one 240 litre bin for recycling (yellow lid) and one 120 litre bin (red lid) during July and August in preparation for first collection on Monday 6 September.

Targeted messaging for areas will go out via Antenno. Residents are encouraged to download Antenno if they haven’t already. It is free and can be found on Google Play or the App Store.

If your neighbours have bins and you don’t appear to, first check with your neighbours as they may have been mixed up by mistake. If you are still unable to find your bins, please contact Council on 07 885 0340.

The bins will be delivered to your address. Each bin will be geo-tagged (registered) to your address to avoid bins being stolen. An address label will also be included on the side of the bin for easy identification. Households will continue to use their existing crates for recycling however they will only be for glass.

The bins will be delivered to the kerbside and pushed as close as possible to the property (letterbox) as possible. They will not push them on the property.

If you have yet to receive your bin and your neighbours have received theirs, please confirm first with your neighbours in case bins have been mixed up. If your household is still without a bin, please phone Council on (07) 885 0340.

If you know you are going to be away in July/August, please make arrangements with your neighbour to retrieve your wheelie bins and store in a safe place, ready for the changeover.

Households must place their wheelie bin(s) and crates on the kerbside of the homes by 7.30am on their designated day. There are no changes to collection days for anyone in the South Waikato.

• Place the crate and wheelie bins in a row on the verge outside your house as close as possible to the road.
• Place bins one metre apart. This is so the lever arms of the truck can pick the bin up.
• Close the lids on the bins.
• Don’t overfill bins. Lid must close shut.
• The bins should face the road (ie, handle facing your property).
• Do not restrict access to driveways.
• Don’t put the glass crate(s) on top of the wheelie bin, leave on the ground.

Flats, shared driveways and cul-de-sacs might cause some congestion issues. If you can’t fit your bin directly outside your property, please work with your neighbours to find a safe and appropriate location to place your bins. This may mean some residents have neighbours’ bins outside their property on collection day. When you retrieve your bin, please check you take the right one! Remember they are labelled and geo-tagged to your address.

Let’s all work together to make sure bins aren’t blocking paths or driveways – we want all our residents to get around.

Council resolved to introduce a 240 litre wheelie bin for recycling and a 120 litre wheelie bin for rubbish for its urban household waste collection service in November 2019.

This followed significant public consultation during September and October. We received 546 submissions, with 407 submitters opting for what is outlined above. One of the options was to introduce an 80 litre bin for rubbish, but 68% of the submitters wanted the larger bin.

Wheelie bins were favoured because of minimising animal activity, easier and safer to handle, large families and convenience.

It is very difficult to deliver a system that individually suits every ratepayer. It is a one size fits all system.

This system also allows for enhancements in future years like the introduction of a greenwaste bin or food scraps. NOTE: this has not yet been discussed at Council, but is a benefit of moving to a wheelie bin based system.

As with all our large contracts, Council went through a competitive tender process for the manufacture and delivery of wheelie bins. The successful tenderer was an Australian based company that offered the lowest price, met all the requirements of the tender scope and were the only tenderer to offer bins that were made from 100% recycled plastic.

By way of comparison, one of the other tenderers – while a New Zealand based company – intended to have the bins themselves made in Italy.

When Council tendered for the bins, there would have been around eight or nine councils that had recently moved to wheelie bins or were in the processing of changing to wheelie bins like our Council is. This may have put considerable pressure on wheelie bin manufacture in New Zealand which would have impacted the number of tenderers and their pricing.

Yes, collection days stay the same, route stays the same and timings will largely stay the same. In the early days of the collection there may be a few delays and the collection may run a little later than normal. Please be patient if your bin collection runs a little late.

Three specially branded and designed trucks will be doing the collection. The glass only truck that is already in use will continue to empty only the crates (that are now ONLY for glass). Two new lever armed trucks are branded red (for rubbish collection) and yellow (for recycling collection). On the odd occasions if there is a breakdown, there may be a ring-in truck called on to help out.

Excess recycling can still be taken to a Council facility like the Tokoroa and Putāruru transfer stations or the Tīrau recycling drop off facility. Please follow this link for opening hours.

Each rateable property in the urban area that currently gets a kerbside collection is eligible for wheelie bins.

Your bins do not move with you, as they are registered and geo-tagged to each property. Please do not take the bins when you move.

No, there is one charge for recycling and one charge for rubbish that is allocated to each rateable unit. This means that each rateable property will get one recycling and one rubbish wheelie bin.

Council is not currently looking at changing this or looking into multiple options for multiple ratepayers. It is a one size fits all approach.

The new Council service will provide:

• 240 litres for all recycling except glass, fortnightly
• 120 litres (existing crates) for glass recycling, fortnightly
• 120 litres for rubbish, weekly (this is equivalent to two green bags each week)

If the service is not sufficient for your household, you can supplement the Council service with a private service. There are a number of private waste contractors operating in the district. Use Google.

The rubbish bin is 120 litre capacity. This is equivalent to two green bags. Most households currently put out one or two bags per week. This capacity is a good like for like for most households.

Remember our rubbish collection remains weekly.

We all need to work together to minimise waste to landfill. Have a look at all the products you buy and recycle everything you can.

We understand there may be some circumstances where more rubbish space is required. A number of people supplement their rubbish already with a private service. This can continue.

Remember most households currently put out one or two bags. This volume is consistent with the size of the new wheelie bin. The cost of this change for rubbish is pretty much like for like.

Yes, please visit the offices.

Yes, commercial businesses that currently get a rubbish and recycling collection service will get wheelie bins for rubbish and recycling. They are charged the same targeted rate that urban properties are. Bins will be delivered in the same way as bins to houses.

There will be a sweeper vehicle collecting unused bins due to shop vacancies.

Commercial businesses are reminded that the wheelie bins and matching rate charge is for household levels of rubbish and recycling only.

Over the past 12 months Council has introduced changes to our household recycling. Contamination levels have decreased significantly and this is a credit to South Waikato householders.

From Monday 6 September:

• Recycled items including clean plastics (1s and 2s only), tins, cans, cardboard and paper go in the 240L wheelie bin (yellow lid).
• Other household rubbish goes in the 120L wheelie bin (red lid).
• The existing green and maroon crates will now be for glass ONLY.

Product care:

• All products must be clean. Plastic, glass and tins rinsed/washed AND cardboard (food packaging) free from food scraps.
• No lids, caps, tops (including bottle tops and tin lids).
• Only plastics 1s and 2s are acceptable. All other plastics must go in the rubbish. Look for the recycling symbol.

For more details DOs and DON’Ts please refer to:

• The information booklet that is delivered with your bins.
• This page linked here.
• The decals on the bin lids. These are included below too.

In the past, if you were late putting out your Council rubbish bags for instance you could just drop the bag off a the transfer station free of charge, however that is no longer possible with the wheelie bin. You can take your wheelie bin to the transfer station yourself to empty, but there will unfortunately be a charge.

If you anticipate that you will be away, perhaps make an arrangement with a neighbour to pull your bins out.

Also because rubbish is in wheelie bins now, animal activity on the kerbside is far less of an issue, therefore bins could be placed out the night before too, without fear of animals making a mess.

The short answer, is try not to miss your service! Remember that the rubbish service is still weekly, not fortnightly; where this could be more of an issue.

Both the green and maroon recycling crates will be used to recycle glass. These need to be placed next to your wheelie bins on your fortnightly recycling collection day, as per your current recycling collection schedule. The information pack delivered with your bins will contain two blue stickers that you can stick over the existing messages on your crates, to remind you that the crates are now for glass ONLY (see image below).

The bins are paid for by ratepayers who receive the service.

Currently the recycling rate charge is $49. The new charge on rates will be $65. The increase is because the cost of recycling processing has increased.

Currently the rubbish charge is $103. The new charge on rates will be $202. This includes the pay off the 120 litre rubbish bin AND the 240 litre recycling bin AND of course you no longer have to buy bags. Essentially the charge on the bags (which covered disposal and management of the waste) moves from the bags to rates.

Do rural ratepayers pay this?

No, rural ratepayers don’t get the recycling (or rubbish) kerbside collection service, nor do they pay for the recycling (or rubbish) kerbside collection service. There is a recycling charge on rural rate bills - this is for the management of the recycling drop off zones that are used by all ratepayers.

The service will be charged through the rates paid by the ratepayer.

Currently the recycling rate charge is $49. The new charge on rates will be $65. This includes the payback of the bin. Currently the rubbish charge is $103. The new charge on rates will be $202. This includes the payback of the bin AND of course you no longer have to buy bags. Essentially the charge on the bags (which covered disposal and management of the waste) moves from the bags to rates.

In terms of tenanted properties, it will be at the discretion of the landlord how these charges will impact their tenants.

The wheelie bins will be delivered to all urban households and businesses in the urban area that CURRENTLY have offical green and maroon recycling crates and receive a kerbside collection (using the official green Council bags).

If you don’t currently have a kerbside collection, you will not receive wheelie bins. Nor will you pay for the service.

In the event your wheelie bin(s) goes missing please contact Council on 07 885 0340. We will make every effort to locate your bin. Bins are geo-tagged to addresses, so if your bin is located at another property, it will be returned to you.

If your bin is not located, unfortunately, Council can’t keep supplying new wheelie bins free of charge.

If your bin is damaged, a Council Officer will investigate the details around the damage and an assessment will be made on a case by case basis as to whether the replacement is at Council's cost or property owner cost or shared.

The cost of new wheelie bins is $65 for the 120 litre bin and $95 for the 240 litre bin.

There will not be an opportunity to opt out. The kerbside rubbish and recycling collection service is funded through rates and bins will be rolled out to each eligible household in the District. If the service is not used, you will still be charged an annual targeted rate, similar to some of Council’s other services like libraries, swimming pools etc.

If you do not currently receive a kerbside rubbish and recycling collection service, you will not have an additional annual targeted rate added to your rates invoice. This service is a targeted charge to urban properties, similar to water supply.

Unless the collection areas change, at which time there will be extensive community consultation.

Landlords/property owners are encouraged to note the wheelie bins and crates as chattels on the property and ensure that the bond covers the replacement, should they be removed.

The bins and crates remain at the property. Council cannot cover the cost of missing bins.

The Three Strikes and You’re Out system is being introduced as part of the new waste collection service. It is a common system throughout New Zealand to combat recycling contamination. The system is not much different to what we are currently doing with contaminated crates being stickered.

This system only applies to the recycling bin and glass crate(s).

With the Three Strikes system, the first time recycling contamination is noted, a yellow sticker will be stuck on your wheelie bin, reminding the resident of the recycling rules.

The second time recycling contamination is noted, an orange sticker will be stuck on your wheelie bin. You will also receive a visit from a Council officer to have a chat about the contamination in your wheelie bin. This visit will assist you on your recycling journey. The orange sticker and visit will highlight that if a third strike happens, your recycling collection service will be suspended for twelve weeks (six collections).

The third time recycling contamination is noted at your address, a red sticker will be stuck to your wheelie bin. You will also receive a letter explaining that your recycling collection service (not rubbish collection) has been suspended for a period of twelve weeks.

Remember that one wheelie bin of contaminated recycling can contaminate an entire truck load of recycling. This wastes the efforts of every other person.

Note:

• If a property that currently has the service suspended is sold to another occupier, the service is reinstated immediately.
• If the tenants change, new tenants are encouraged to contact Council to discuss reinstatement of their service.

Yes, suspension of the service while the charge remains can be seen as a penalty for not taking the appropriate level of care with your recycling. Remember that if you don’t recycle properly, your contaminated recycling can contaminate the entire truck; wasting the efforts of everyone else.

Remember too that Council has been running recycling education campaigns for a long while now, and the rules haven’t changed with the introduction of the wheelie bins. Remember too that having your service suspended is the third step in the Three Strikes system.

If you think you may struggle with the bins, please contact Council on 07 885 0340. A service request will be raised and sent to a Council Officer who will contact you to talk about a solution.

There are products on the market that enable you to tow your wheelie bin with your car, which could be helpful. A link is below:

• Eaglesrest towa

Yes. Residents are encouraged to align your green bag stock levels at home with the start of the new system. Remember this is now Monday 6 September.

No, Council resolved not to refund green bags, however green bags can be dropped off at the transfer stations until 30 September free of charge. If you have purchased a substantial number of bags that you are not going to use by then, you could a, give them to a neighbour, friend or family member to use, b, on-sell them to a neighbour, c, donate them to the op shops in the district, d, have a spring clean over winter to use them up.

Council made a decision back in 2019 that there would be no refund for green bags. But residents can take green bags to the transfer station for free for a period of three months, until 30 September.

Green bags can be disposed of at transfer stations free of charge until 30 September.

After this date, green bags will be charged.

No. These bags will no longer be accepted at the transfer station free of charge from 1 July 2021. After this date, terracotta bags will be charged as we charge with plain black bags.

No. Anyone who currently gets a kerbside collection service from Council will receive rubbish bins and get the service going forward.

Rural ratepayers have never received a kerbside waste collection service, nor do they pay for the service.

There is a recycling charge on rural rate bills. This is for the management of the three recycling drop off facilities in the district.

This charge is not for the kerbside collection.

We appreciate that some rural people buy Council bags and drop them at the transfer stations free of charge. The charge for disposal and waste management is on the bag. That is why it costs as much as it does at the shop.

Going forward once green bags are phased out, people can buy cheaper plain 60 litre black bags at the shops and drop them at the transfer stations for a fee.

It works out much the same. All that changes essentially is where you pay the cost to dispose the waste - changes from the supermarket (when you buy a green bag) to the transfer station (when you drop off a 60 litre black bag).

That is the responsibility of the homeowner.

The short answer is no they can’t be recycled. Durable plastic products like our crates, and other items like chairs and tables contain material that cannot be recycled.

The longer answer is please don’t get rid of your crates. They need to stay with the property when/if you move, ready for the next owner/occupier. This applies to the wheelie bins as well.

If you find that you don’t need all of your recycling crates under the new system, you can use your crate for other things, in the garage or toy room for instance. However the crates must stay with the house when/if you move, ready for the next owner/occupier. The crates (and wheelie bins) stay with the property.

The wheelie bins will be delivered to all urban households and businesses in the urban area that CURRENTLY have offical green and maroon recycling crates and receive a kerbside collection (using the official green Council bags).

If you don’t currently have a kerbside collection, you will not receive wheelie bins. Nor will you pay for the service.

No, please don't. Just put your clean recycling - plastics, tins, cardboard and paper, directly into the recycling bin (yellow lid). Plastic bags are made from a soft plastic that is not recyclable.

Residents can collect two packs (specifically for the period 1 July to 6 September, not before) free of charge from the Tokoroa Office, Tokoroa Library, Putāruru Office, Tokoroa Library and Tīrau i-SITE during normal opening hours from Monday 14 June. Council will also provide a collection service from the Arapuni Hall between midday and 2pm on Wednesday 16, Wed 23 and Wed 30 June 2021.

For residents requiring more, Council will provide a further five bags (one additional pack) free of charge (again specifically for the delayed period not before) from its offices in Tokoroa, Putāruru and Tīrau i-site, from Monday 2 August.

Residents will need to bring identification (eg, drivers licence, bank card, community services card) with them in order to pick up the free bags and supply the address that they are picking up for, so Council can keep a record of who has collected the free bags and which property they are associated with.

If you can't get to the office yourself you can nominate someone to collect your bags on your behalf. They will need to provide their name, proof of identity and know your address that they are collecting for.

Any resident who requires more than the 15 bags over the nine week period, can purchase additional bags from one of the Council offices.

Currently the charge for the disposal of the rubbish and the ongoing management of that rubbish into the future is covered in the cost of the green bag. From 1 July this cost moves to rates so Council can’t charge residents/ratepayers twice for the same service; hence why bags will be supplied free of charge for the nine week postponement period.

Currently most people put out less than one bag a week. The wheelie bins for rubbish are equivalent to about two green bags, however the charge on the rates is based on current volumes.

Specifically, for the collections from Thursday 1 July to Friday 3 September, a nine week period.

In order to support our community’s ongoing waste minimisation journey, a Council Officer can visit you and your family on request to provide some additional tips and guidance on how to increase recycling and minimise rubbish at the household level. Contact Council on 07 885 0340 to book an appointment. We’re happy to help!

No. Council has no control over either of these aspects; Council does appreciate and acknowledge that recycling properly given the need to rinse, flatten, remove lids etc takes time and effort. We all need to do our bit to minimise waste to landfill.

Council also appreciates that there are a large number of products that still come in plastics that can’t be recycled. Council advocates whenever and wherever possible to have this investigated and changed at a Central Government level. This is not something Council can control.

What can consumers do?

Where possible, stop buying over packaged and poorly packaged products. Look for alternatives and shift to those. Reward manufacturers that have made the switch with your dollars/spend. Stop using the flimsy plastic single use bags for fruit and vegetables; buy some reusable bags and use those. Visit the plastic free NZ website here for more ideas on minimising your use of plastics.

Previously bags that were not collected due to householder error could be taken to the transfer station and dropped off free of charge. This cannot happen with wheelie bins as there is no way for Council to record if the wheelie bins are general private service bins or Council wheelie bins.

Rubbish wheelie bins are collected weekly, if you miss a collection, your bin can only be emptied by Council the following week at the kerbside. We encourage residents not to miss their collections if they find they are filling their bin each week. Sign up to Antenno for reminders about your collection.

Between 20 and 30kg for a 120ltr bin is the norm. The average weight currently of the 120 litre wheelie bins that our contractor Envirowaste collects in other areas is 23kg. Remember the bins are mechanically lifted by lever arms to empty.

Council’s kerbside collection service does not include greenwaste. Greenwaste can be taken to the transfer stations in Putāruru or Tokoroa for a charge, or people can simply retain their existing private greenwaste kerbside collection service.

Council’s kerbside collection service includes rubbish. Rubbish is placed in the small Council wheelie bin with the red lid. This bin is emptied weekly. The bin is 120 litres which is approximately the same volume as two of the existing (old) green rubbish bags. If your household or business can get by on 120 litres of rubbish per week, then the Council service should be sufficient. If your household or business requires more than 120 litres, then you will need to retain your private service.

Council’s kerbside collection service includes rubbish. Rubbish is placed in the small Council wheelie bin with the red lid. This bin is emptied weekly. The bin is 120 litres which is approximately the same volume as two of the existing (old) green rubbish bags. If your household or business can get by on 120 litres of rubbish per week, then the Council service should be sufficient. If your household or business currently generates more than that, you will need to supplement the Council service with a private rubbish service.

The returned wheelie bins are the responsibility of the private operator. Some wheelie bins are made from recyclable material, however some are not. Council’s new wheelie bins are recyclable.

That would be too complicated to rollout across our townships for several reasons: multiple different private suppliers, Council doesn’t own the bins, changing lids to match appropriate colour lids, different coloured bins making pickups confusing for our contractor, different size of wheelie bins not consistent with the Council service, installing the geo-tags appropriately and labelling with addresses.

One rubbish wheelie bin, one recycling wheelie bin and one crate.

Yes, the first set of everything is provided to the property free of charge provided the waste collection charge is or will be charged. This is determined by rates staff. If bins and/or crates are subsequently stolen, the replacement cost of the bins and/or crates is on the ratepayer.

Yes. Proof of business address/ownership is required.

Bins and crates belong to the property. If people move, they must not take their bins and crates with them.

Council’s contractor Envirowaste cannot collect greenbags kerbside from Monday 6 September. The new state of the art truck that is used to collect wheelie bins, can’t pick up bags. Green bags can be taken to the transfer stations free of charge until 30 September. After that there will be a charge.

If you don't have bins, first check with your neighbours just in case bins got mixed up. Still no bins, contact Council on 07 885 0340.

If you have bins, but no labels, please write your house number on the bin.

This is a huge logistical exercise. There will be some errors in bin delivery and labels.

No one knows the common household products that you buy better than you do!

• TIP 1 - Learn which of the products you buy can be recycled and which can’t. For plastics products, look for the recycling symbol. This will make sorting your recycling and rubbish a lot quicker.
• TIP 2 - Substitute products where you can. If you usually buy a brand that uses a non-recyclable plastic, stop buying it. Switch to a brand that uses a recyclable plastic.
• TIP 3 - If a product you like comes in a tin and a plastic container and the plastic container is not plastic 1 or 2, choose the tin because that can be recycled.
• TIP 4 - Meat trays can be difficult to clean. Buy meat from a butcher and use your own reusable containers.
• TIP 5 - Stop buying your coffee fix in a takeaway cup! Use a reusable one.
• TIP 6 - Start a compost heap for your food scraps.
• TIP 7 - Learn how to make your own products. Making your own yoghurt cuts down on the amount of plastics 5 or 6 you buy. Making your own pasta cuts down on the amount of soft plastic you buy.
• TIP 8 - In your next supermarket shop, buy net veggie bags. Stop using the flimsy plastic bags for fruit and veg!

RECYCLE REUSE REDUCE REFUSE

You can if you want, however our advice is not to. It is just more unnecessary plastic to landfill.

If you are worried about the bottom getting messy, rather line the bottom of your rubbish bin with newspaper.

You could also start composting your food scraps, to get them out of the rubbish bin.

The responsibility for cleaning the bins is the householder. A squirt of dishwashing soap and a hose out as required should do the trick.