The Big Belly rubbish bins already in Hastings parks are staying and three more are on their way.

A four-month trial of three bins - in Cornwall Park, Flaxmere Park and Havelock North Village Green - has been very successful, proving popular with park-goers and the bin-emptying team.

The solar-powered smart bins compact the rubbish, which means less emptying (saving truck trips), and no overflow. Because the rubbish is locked inside, litter cannot be wind-blown out of the bins.

The bins alert staff on a phone app when they are near full, so there’s no wasted trips checking on bins that don’t need emptying and, during busy times, the team is aware when bins need attention. The bins can hold the equivalent of 10 times the rubbish of a standard public litter bin (up to 600 litres of rubbish).

Hastings District councillor Wendy Schollum said feedback from park users and the parks team confirmed noticeably less litter in areas with Big Belly bins, and that residents were enjoying having a cleaner park.

Dressed in artwork from Council’s anti-litter programme, the bins are hard to miss.

“Because they are very obvious and a bit different, people are attracted to using them leading to less loose litter in our parks. That’s a real win that fits with our ‘get it in the bin’ campaign,” said Mrs Schollum.

New bins will be installed in Haumoana Domain and Clifton Rd Reserve in July, with the placement of the last bin still being decided.

The areas have been chosen because of their high use. The Cornwall Park bin will be repositioned into a higher profile site, nearer to the picnic tables. In each of the areas, nearby traditional bins will be removed.

“We are working hard to keep Hastings beautiful, especially as we hold the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Supreme Award for our stunning district, and keeping litter out of our parks and off our streets is a major part of that,” said Mrs Schollum.

“We are on a drive to stop littering and initiatives like the Big Belly bins definitely help. But we need to realise that we can’t put them absolutely everywhere, so the message is walk to a bin to get rid of your litter – or take it home and dispose of it properly by recycling it or putting it in your bin.”

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