Tauranga rubbish collection: where to put dead rats from home traps

Tauranga City Council's rubbish bins. Photo / George Novak

The food scraps bin is not the appropriate way to dispose of dead pests - and improper disposal might attract more of them.

That's the message from Tauranga's pest control leaders, who say most people are doing a great job of using Tauranga's waste disposal but some need a little guidance.

Predator Free BOP posted on Facebook on Monday urging people not to put rats in their food scraps bin.

Coordinator Luke Judd told the Bay of Plenty Times the post was prompted by inquiries from the public about what to do with their rats.

He said some people had been confused because meat and bones are allowed in food scrap bins, but this does not include dead pests.

He said the proper way to dispose of dead pests was ideally to bury them or, if that is not possible, to dispose of them in the red general waste bin.

"Not everyone has land to bury them, and then sometimes it's not land suitable for burying them ... so the easiest solution is to put them in the general waste bin."

But, he said the problem was "it's organic matter, so if it's put in a landfill, just like food scraps, it breaks down anaerobically and contributes to greenhouse gases".

"If we bury it, it breaks down just like things used to before we had landfills, just like if any animal would die and break down, become carbon, and fertilise the earth - and other organisms can actually feed off the carcass."

Predator Free BOP coordinator Luke Judd. Photo / Mead Norton

Judd said it was crucial to dispose of rats correctly because one dead rat can attract others, especially in the summertime. They can be "cannibalistic" and "can actually smell a dead rat," he said.

"Rats will go where there is food, so they're just trying to survive ... if there's no food around, if we're not providing food and it's uninhabitable for the pests, they'll move on somewhere else.

"If we're not disposing of them correctly, and just throwing them over the fence, which is by far the easiest option, then we're actually attracting more rats."

If you have to put rats in the general waste bin, Judd said to put them underneath other rubbish to mask the scent. If you're able to bury them, try to go deeper than 30cm and ideally 60cm underground.

Tauranga City Council's manager of sustainability and waste Sam Fellows said there had been "only a couple of instances observed" of rats in food scraps bins - "it's a very isolated problem".

"Our transfer station consolidation point is only consented to received food waste, so in situations like this a worker will remove it and put it with the general waste, which includes animal waste."

Fellow said it was best to follow Predator BOP's advice for disposing of rats and pests.

"From a strictly council kerbside collections perspective then the red-lidded bin is the correct bin."

Tauranga City Council's Sustainability and Waste Manager Sam Fellows. Photo / George Novak

"While relatively infrequent, putting the wrong types of material in recycling, glass, food or garden waste bins risks contamination and means they may not get picked up."

Fellows said the community is doing "an amazing job" of navigating the different bins.

"The real point here is only put things in the food scraps, garden waste, glass, or recycling bins if you are sure they belong there."

"Some people "wishcycle" and hope it will somehow get recycled. The rule of thumb is if you are not sure if it can get recycled or composted, put it in the red bin, or have a look at the disposal guide that can be found on the kerbside collections app or on our website."

To get free rat traps for your home, visit the Predator Free BOP website and contact a coordinator near you.