Organic farmer Jenny Lux says the council should be doing more to educate the public about composting. Photo / Stephen Parker
Organic farmer Jenny Lux says the council should be doing more to educate the public about composting. Photo / Stephen Parker
Rotorua will not meet its yearly target for green and wood waste "recovery", and some say it's time to introduce green waste bins.
The Rotorua Lakes Council was aiming to recover 7000 tonnes or more green waste in the 2019/2020 financial year, which ends on June 30.
Residents can dispose of green waste in a separated facility at the landfill. Recovered green waste was that which had been composed and on-sold to help pay for the cost of facilities.
In an operations and monitoring committee meeting on Wednesday, however, it was revealed only 2549 tonnes had been recovered between July 1 to December 31, meaning the target was behind schedule and would not be met.
Green waste and wood waste included items like grass clippings, tree and shrub pruning, branches and recyclable untreated wood.
A Lux Organics compost. Photo / Stephen Parker / Rotorua Daily Post
Residents can get a green waste bin through a private business or use the landfill facility, but the council does not offer a separate kerbside green waste collection.
In the meeting, infrastructure manager Stavros Michael said introducing a council-run collection was a matter of "economies".
"The difficulty we've got is the economies at this point in time don't appear to support a separate green waste collection system."
The council had calculated a weekly or fortnightly green waste bin collection would cost about $1.5-2 million a year, while only saving between $500,000 and $600,000 in other costs.
Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure manager Stavros Michael. Photo / File
"We need to find the golden spot between what is economically affordable, what makes business sense."
He had a personal green waste collection that cost him about $250 each year.
Mayor Steve Chadwick said similar cost arguments had been made about recycling before it was adopted.
"Everyone said [recycling] wasn't affordable but actually, we ought to be looking after our environment and it should be seen as an investment."
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / File
Two environment advocates have called for the council to do more to prevent green waste ending up in landfill.
On Monday, Rotorua organic farmer Jenny Lux said she thought the council could do more to promote home composting.
Lux, who was also a national councillor on the Soil and Health Association, said it was important green waste was diverted from the red rubbish bins.
The council needed to make all decisions based on the four well-being areas - social, economic, environmental and culture - and "not just dollar figures".
That view was echoed by Kaya Sparke, a Green Party-affiliated candidate who ran, unsuccessfully, in the 2019 Rotorua Lakes Council election.
"We are committed to exploring in detail what it would mean for residents if we introduced a green waste service in the near future."
The council had organised "several workshops and education campaigns" to encourage home composting, he said.
"Composting on a bigger scale is one of the options we are considering as an alternative way to separate green waste from general waste in the future."
The 7000-tonne collection target was based on actual green waste collection at the landfill when operation was based on open landfill activity, and before it was converted to a transfer station.
The change, along with the introduction of the transfer station and recognising the council was no longer the dominant waste management entity meant that target may be revised in the next long term plan, he said.
While the council was tracking well behind targets for green and wood waste recovery, it was close to its first quarter goal for customer satisfaction with waste management systems, according to a report presented at the meeting.
