New rubbish bin collection service begins in Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty - what to expect

The new Tauranga City Council rubbish bin and recycling bin line-up. Photo / George Novak

The first runs of the new council-led kerbside rubbish collection services begin in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty today.

The city and district services are different in some key aspects. Here's what to expect.

Tauranga City

Tauranga households will have received a new red rubbish bin, yellow recycling bin and a green food scraps bin. They will have also received a green waste bin if they opted in for this additional service.

The collection day for each bin is dependent on your suburb - so not everyone will have a collection tomorrow.

Check your upcoming kerbside collections with the search tool on the Tauranga City Council website by entering your address.

You can also look for the collection day and week on the new bins, then check the collection calendar that was delivered inside your food scraps bin.

Food scraps will be collected every week and the rest of the collections will operate on a fortnightly cycle.

What goes into each bin. Photo / supplied

No one will need to put all their bins out at once - one week is for the rubbish and food scraps bin, and the next week is for the recycling, glass and food scraps bins.

Bins need to be placed at the kerbside by 7am on collection day, as close to the kerbside as possible. To ensure bins can be collected, there needs to be 30cm between each bin and the bins need to face the kerbside so the lid opens to the road.

The new service means council rubbish bags will no longer be collected from the kerbside from today. People using a private collection service should talk to their provider about whether they want to keep or stop this.

Tauranga residents do not need to buy tags for their bins - the service is funded through rates.

Anyone unable to take their bins to the kerbside due to a physical disability or ailment is encouraged to contact council to see if they qualify for an assisted service, which will be free of charge.

Western Bay of Plenty District

The new kerbside rubbish and recycling service for Western Bay of Plenty also starts today for areas with a Thursday collection.

Recycling and glass collections will be paid for via rates, as will (for urban residents) food scraps bins. Rubbish is charged each time you put the bin out to be collected.

That means Western Bay of Plenty residents need to purchase pay-as-you-throw tags which are available throughout the district and have a recommended retail price of $3.95 each.

Serviced households' recycling and glass bins will be collected fortnightly on alternating weeks and food waste bins - available in urban areas - will be collected weekly.

Rubbish bin collection is available weekly but it is up to you how often you put it out. The bin will only be collected when a pre-paid tag is attached.

Find out which suburbs are collected on which days on the council's website.

Parts of the district are not eligible for the kerbside service.

How to use the tags:

• Purchase a tag from one of the selected stockists

• Attach the pay-as-you-throw tag to the red rubbish bin by looping through handle and bin attachment;

• Fasten tag

• Place the red lid rubbish bin on the kerb by 7am alongside other bins ready for collection on your collection day

Where the tags can be bought:

Western Bay of Plenty District Council – Barkes Corner

Te Puke Library and Service Centre

The Centre - Pātuki Manawa

Ōmokoroa Library and Service Centre

Waihi Beach Library and Service Centre

Countdown Te Puke

Countdown Papamoa

Whakamarama General Store

Waihi Beach Dairy

Challenge Ōmokoroa

Pukehina Beach Store & Takeaway

Caltex Tauriko

Countdown Bethlehem

Countdown Bayfair

Countdown Fraser Cove

Countdown Tauranga

Countdown Greerton

What goes in each bin

Green food scraps bin

- Fruit, vegetables, meat, bones, eggshells, paper towels, coffee grounds
- No compostable plastic bags, tea bags or fruit stickers
- To keep the bin clean, it can be lined with newspaper or paper towels

Yellow recycling bin

- Plastics with numbers one, two and five (five is not accepted in the Western Bay)
- Clean plastic bottles and containers
- Paper, cardboard, tins and cans

Red rubbish bin

- Items that cannot be recycled, reused or donated

Glass bin

- Rinsed glass bottles and jars