Recycling bins are among thousands that have been distributed throughout Tauranga and the Western Bay, but some people remain without. Photo / NZME
Recycling bins are among thousands that have been distributed throughout Tauranga and the Western Bay, but some people remain without. Photo / NZME
Nearly 300 properties in Tauranga and the Western Bay are still waiting for kerbside collection bins a month after they were meant to be delivered.
There are still 203 properties in the Western Bay of Plenty District and around 90 in Tauranga that have not received either part or allof their kerbside bin set.
Authorities say supply delays and neighbour mix-ups are key reasons.
Western Bay council deputy chief executive Gary Allis said these properties were either outside the 17,000 properties originally calculated for or have had bins lost or stolen.
"The bins have not been delivered due to supply chain issues and council having to order more bins due to the higher-than-anticipated demand," Allis said.
The bins are expected to be delivered within four weeks.
Allis said people yet to receive bins were being supplemented with yellow rubbish bags they could drop off at council's recycling centres or Te Maunga Transfer Station. They will also be provided with a replacement bag after drop-off.
"Residents will also receive three pay-as-you-throw tags for when they receive their bins," he said.
A total of $10,000 has been budgeted to help cover the cost of these "alternative arrangements".
Western Bay's new bins were expected to be delivered by the end of the month.
A Te Puke man, who spoke on the condition he was not named, said he was getting tired of waiting: "Where are my bins?"
The council has already collected 214 tonnes for recycling and composting including 99.8 tonnes of recycling, 77.6 tonnes of glass, and 37.5 tonnes of food scraps.
Tauranga City Council sustainability and waste manager Sam Fellows said its outstanding bins should be delivered within the next two weeks.
He said the council was working with each impacted household to ensure they had access to waste disposal facilities.
Western Bay deputy chief executive and group manager of infrastructure services Gary Allis with the new Kerbside Collective bins and trucks. Photo / Chris Steel
"Households were missed during the initial bin roll-out for various reasons such as database discrepancies, multiple properties on the same lot or bins being accidentally taken by other residents," Fellows said.
There were not specific streets or suburbs with missing bins.
At Monday's Tauranga council meeting, Fellows said there was also a delay with bin deliveries due to the large number of people who had signed up for the garden waste service.
In the past week, about 1500 to1600 people signed up for the green bin, "which meant all of those bins then got added to all the other bins that got delivered".
"Some replacement bins or bins that we've missed took a little bit longer," he said.
"Unfortunately there's been a little bit of a delay in those because that was way outside our wildest dreams of people signing up."
Fellows said the council contractor had doubled the number of staff to get through the backlog of deliveries.
Fellows said the amount of rubbish that had been collected in the first four weeks of the service was "pretty impressive" with 280 tonnes of food waste being picked up.
"That's one of the big wins for us around the food - some people might have composted that before but most people that was either going into the bin or going to landfill producing methane ... or going down the Insinkerator."
Both councils acknowledged this could be a difficult time for people still unable to use the kerbside service and encouraged those people needing help to check their websites or to contact the council.
The Maleme St Transfer Station was closed to the public on Monday, August 2. People are now expected to drop their recycling and/or garden waste at the Te Maunga Lane Transfer Station if not using the kerbside collection service.
Curious about where our waste and recycling go?
• Glass bottles and jars – via Visy Recycling NZ to O-I Glass NZ in Auckland • Tins and cans – to a local scrap metal dealer • Paper and cardboard – onshore at OJI Fibre Solutions, or for Tauranga will be recycled onshore with various local contractors. Some plastics will also be recycled offshore when required • Food waste and Tauranga garden waste – Hampton Organics composting facility • Plastics – will be recycled onshore with various local contractors. Some plastics will also be recycled offshore when required • Residual rubbish – Hampton Downs landfill in North Waikato
