Media release
July 1, 2004

Joint refuse idea supported

Waitakere City, North Shore City and Rodney District are looking at a joint tender for refuse & recycling collection services, aimed at reducing costs for ratepayers.

Last night, Waitakere agreed to with a proposal which would see the three local authorities combine to all for tenders. North shore and Rodney are yet to discuss the issue, but Waitakere believes the initiative could save each Council thousands of dollars.

“We won’t know for certain until we see the tenders, but it is a basic economies of scale argument,” says Waitakere’s environmental management committee chairperson Penny Hulse.

“One contractor servicing all three areas is sure to bring about efficiencies which in turn could be passed on to our ratepayers.”

All three Councils have already committed to the national “Zero Waste” strategy and another initiative they are looking at together is the introduction of common by-laws for things like licensing waste operators, littering and unlawful dumping of rubbish.

Waitakere’s Long Term Council Community Plan states that by 2020 the City will turn all its waste into resources. A joint refuse collection contract with other Councils with similar strategic goals will help achieve this aim, because the resulting economies of scale will make minimisation initiatives, such as recycling and organic waste separation more feasible.

The City’s current refuse collection contracts are due to expire on in June, 2005.

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