Waste collection trial a success
September 15, 2003

North Shore City Council's 14-week trial of two new waste collection services has been hailed a success.

The services trialed in the Bayswater area involved recyclable plastic, glass, cans, paper and cardboard being collected together in one wheelie bin and kitchen scraps and garden waste in another.

The trial involving 400 households aimed to reduce the amount of household rubbish going to landfill.

North Shore City's waste minimisation team leader, Michelle Kaczor, says the trial results have exceeded expectations and have given a sharp insight into how people may respond to changes in the way rubbish is collected if implemented city-wide.

"The participation levels were outstanding with 86 per cent of people using the wheelie bin recycling service and 71 per cent using the organic service," says Ms Kaczor.

"The enthusiasm with which people participated meant that over the duration of the trial, 35 per cent less rubbish went to landfill with the average number of rubbish bags being put out for weekly collection going down by 14 per cent."

Ms Kaczor says feedback from residents showed they enjoyed putting all recyclables into one bin as it was easier to take to the kerb and street tidiness improved, while there was considerable support for the organic collection service despite some concerns about potential odours.

"Eighty-eight per cent of residents who provided feedback favoured adopting the wheelie bin recycling system with 65 per cent favouring the introduction of some form of organic service, be it combined kitchen and garden waste or one or the other," says Michelle Kaczor.

Chairperson of North Shore City's works and environment committee, Joel Cayford, says the trial is part of North Shore City Council's effort to achieve its self enforced target of reducing the amount of rubbish disposed to landfill by 5 per cent each year.

"With the Rosedale landfill closing it is expensive and wasteful to put recyclable and organic waste like kitchen scraps into a hole in the ground. We are now exploring ways of implementing this experiment city-wide," says Councillor Cayford.

The residential trial follows hard on the heels of the Takapuna business trial that saw 79 per cent of participants support a combined paper and containers recycling service.

The two trials are part of North Shore City Council's waste services review, which after further community consultation, may see a number of new collection services implemented city-wide from the end of 2004.

ENDS

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