Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Letters to the editor: New rubbish service will encourage wastefulness

Bay of Plenty Times
29 Sep, 2020 09:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

A reader says the council's new rubbish collection service will encourage wastefulness. Photo / File

A reader says the council's new rubbish collection service will encourage wastefulness. Photo / File

I, too, am flabbergasted as details of the new rates-funded kerbside rubbish service emerge.

The new system penalises all small households and those who already make responsible efforts to reduce household waste. It encourages wastefulness in a "just bin it" attitude.

It has not been thought through.

I cannot see how most people will save money. We put out a single rubbish bag every three to four weeks. Our minimal food waste is recycled for compost.

Current annual rubbish disposal costs are $49.50 for rubbish bags and the $37.34 included in council rates for a glass collection service we don't use.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Add in mileage for an occasional trip to recycle cardboard, paper, glass, tins and plastic at the transfer station and our wastage costs are still about $100 a year. Council's new mandatory system will impose a 100 per cent cost increase for a service which we may not use.

Western Bay Council is to be applauded for introducing a rubbish system charged by the throw, rather than through rates.

It is the only fair system and provides an incentive to save more waste from landfill.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

What is planned for Tauranga fails on fairness and practicality? It is unhygienic, untidy, even hazardous. (Abridged)

Helen O'Connor
Pyes Pa

Discover more

Letters to the editor: Who will clean the food scraps bins?

24 Sep 09:00 PM

Letters: Mandatory rubbish collection disappointing

26 Sep 03:00 AM

Letters: Council's waste collection plan rubbished

27 Sep 09:00 PM

Letters to the editor: Leave rubbish system well enough alone

28 Sep 09:00 PM

Kerbside rubbish and recycling

Like James Newman (Letters, September 26) I am disappointed in the council's compulsory decision on kerbside rubbish and recycling.

For the past 20 years, I have had the same amount of rubbish taken away by a New Zealand company for about $100.

It is now going to cost me an extra $260 dollars a year to have the same amount taken away by a Hong Kong-based company. (Abridged)

Ida Davies
Pāpāmoa

Buying property

Recently we sold a small rental property which would have been ideal for the several professional people who were keen to purchase it.

Unfortunately, banks refused to lend despite the potential purchasers having sizable deposits.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They now must keep renting and keep saving and as a consequence have little discretionary spending power.

As we received a low return from the house sale, I will have to keep my leaky car instead of replacing it.

In addition, we have retired friends who have had to give their adult children sizeable loans for them to get on the property ladder.

As a consequence, they now have less discretionary income for their retirement.

The Federal Government of Australia announced that it is abolishing bank lending laws which will enable Australians to borrow money, for a house or car, with greater ease, thereby stimulating the economy.

It is time for New Zealand to follow suit which will in turn stimulate our economy.

Meg Butler
Welcome Bay

Covid versus road toll

It would give a clearer picture to the public if they were informed by the media in coronavirus reports how much the death numbers exceed the usual national death toll by other causes at that time of year.

New Zealand's total death toll for the whole pandemic period is equivalent to the average number of deaths on our roads in a three-week period.

Bryan Johnson
Omokoroa

The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters from readers. Please note the following:

• Letters should not exceed 200 words.

• They should be opinion based on facts or current events.

• If possible, please email.

• No noms-de-plume.

• Letters will be published with names and suburb/city.

• Please include full name, address and contact details for our records only.

• Local letter writers given preference.

• Rejected letters are not normally acknowledged.

• Letters may be edited, abridged, or rejected at the Editor's discretion.

• The Editor's decision on publication is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

Email editor@bayofplentytimes.co.nz

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

18 Jun 06:07 PM
Premium
Opinion

Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

18 Jun 06:01 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Technology has come so far': Drones could be coming to farms and beaches near you

18 Jun 06:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

18 Jun 06:07 PM

The aspiring new owners say they have 30 years' experience in hospitality.

Premium
Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

18 Jun 06:01 PM
'Technology has come so far': Drones could be coming to farms and beaches near you

'Technology has come so far': Drones could be coming to farms and beaches near you

18 Jun 06:00 PM
Police warn gangs after major drug operation

Police warn gangs after major drug operation

18 Jun 06:04 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP