Food wasteCurrently about 40% of our district’s rubbish bags is food scraps – the new food scraps bin means that this food waste will be turned into useful compost. —New Plymouth District Council (NPDC), September 2019

New Plymouth does much better than Kapiti

By Roger Childs

The  NPDC co-ordinates the rubbish collection in the Taranaki city, unlike here. The New Plymouth rates cover the kerbside collection. The exception is that green waste is collected by the private company —EnviroWaste. 

New Plymouth 1The Council is moving towards a goal of “Zero Waste” so residents have four bins for:

  • Food scraps
  • Recycling – no plastic bags or drink cartons
  • Glass
  • Landfill rubbish

A 16-page illustrated pamphlet explains the system. 

Traditionally, rubbish collection was a service all local bodies provided for ratepayers. They still do in New Plymouth, but not in Kapiti.

Kapiti – private companies, but no rates relief

Kerbside household rubbish and recycling collection is not covered by your rates. —Kapiti Coast District Council (KCDC) website

There are four private rubbish and recycling collectors licensed to operate in Kāpiti:

  • EnviroWaste (also trading as Clean Green and Budget Waste)
  • Low Cost Bins (also trading as Skip-E-Bins)
  • Lucy’s Bins (backdoor collection service
  • Waste Management (previously trading as Transpacific)

However, at present there is no separate green waste or food scraps service.

NPDC bins 1Because ratepayers have to pay separately for rubbish collection in Kapiti you would expect a rates rebate and cheaper overall rates than in New Plymouth.

Our total annual bill for rates, water and rubbish collection is about $3,360. In New Plymouth, my sister-in-law pays about $2,900 for a property with similar Rateable value and there are no additional charges for water.

KCDC can clearly do better. They should co-ordinate the rubbish collection, or at least have a rates rebate, and also be moving towards a “zero waste” policy.

The KCDC will argue that by ceasing collection, the Rates increase for that year didn’t need to be as high as it would have been.  They still claim that they can’t provide the service as cheaply as the private operators.  The question is why? —Eds