However, one Milford resident was unhappy that during the trial, although the food scraps would be collected weekly, rubbish bag collection and recycling would go from weekly to fortnightly.
A separate kitchen-waste collection was a priority project promised in the council's 2012 waste management and minimisation plan.
Council environment and climate change committee chairman Wayne Walker said the trial would help to design a service for all urban parts of Auckland that would give ratepayers value and have environmental benefits.
In a landfill, food waste rotted into the greenhouse gas methane, he said. It was better to process that food waste into a resource, such as energy or compost.
About 40 per cent of the average household's rubbish was food waste, he said.
The council's goal was to cut the amount of household rubbish sent to landfill by 30 per cent by 2018.
Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member Jan O'Connor was concerned about the extra cost to ratepayers.
"Council silence on that issue is overwhelming," she said.
Local board chairman Mike Cohen recalled taking part in a trial of separating food waste in Bayswater in 2003 run by the old North Shore City Council.
"It made a significant difference to what went in the bag or the in-sink disposal and it worked, because it was easy."
Council solid waste manager Ian Stupple said "waste rangers" would support householders in the trial areas of Northcote, Forrest Hill, Milford and Takapuna.
Garden waste was not allowed in the bin, he said. Composting food waste called for a more extensive, hygienic and costly process than garden waste.
The council encouraged people to compost their garden waste or to use private green waste collectors, he said.
"We are testing methodology that's been proven around the world and we want to see whether it's appropriate for Auckland and we are working with residents to get their feedback on how we can change the service if it does not meet their needs. We will try to make it as easy and convenient as possible."
Mr Stupple said a city-wide separate food waste collection would come in ahead of the waste plan's major project: a regional user-pays system for rubbish collection starting late next year to early 2016. Wheelie bins will replace bags in most urban areas and households will pay per lift for 60-litre to 240-litre bins.
Christchurch City Council has a green bin for weekly collection of food scraps and garden waste.
Auckland's Organic Experiment
3 month trial from May 21 of weekly collection of food scraps, paper towels, tea bags and indoor cut flowers
7 litre kitchen caddy with compostable liners 23litre carry bin to take kitchen caddy contents
2000 households in parts of Northcote, Forrest Hill, Milford and Takapuna
40 per cent of Auckland household rubbish is food waste We are testing methodology that's been proven around the world and we want to see whether it's appropriate for Auckland
