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Kerbside recycling
Should the Council establish a kerbside recycling service?
The Council currently provides a recycling drop-off centre at Peat Street. However, we would like to get your views on whether a kerbside service would be preferable.
Kerbside recycling will provide a weekly urban and peri-urban kerbside collection service for traditional recyclable products like plastic bottles, glass bottles, cardboard, paper, aluminium and steel cans.
It is likely that this would replace the current ‘drop-off’ service in Peat Street. Benefits of a kerbside service are that more people will use it than the ‘drop-off’ centre and therefore the amount of waste recycled will increase.
The ‘drop-off’ centre recycles 1500 tonnes of waste at a cost of $150,000 per annum.
The kerbside service would recycle around 3000 tonnes at an annual cost of approximately $500,000. This equates to an annual 1.2% increase in your rates.
Advantages of a kerbside recycling service
- There may be greater participation in recycling.
- A greater volume of product will likely be recycled.
- It may be more convenient for users.
- The service level will match that of most areas in New Zealand.
- The cost of service may be offset by actual savings in waste disposal to the householder.
Disadvantages of a kerbside recycling service
- There will be a greater cost to ratepayers.
- This will be approximately a 1.2% annual rate increase or $23 per household.
- There may be less ‘ownership’ of waste i.e. the service may be too convenient which discourages personal responsibility for waste minimisation.
- The cost is directly attributable to collection and transport of waste rather than recycling.
It will not be user pays.
For general information on waste minimisation go to the Ministry for the Environment’s website. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/waste/current-issues/index.html
Wanganui District Council Web site || Referendum '06 || Referendum '05
