The new food and garden organics (Fogo) kerbside collection service bins were meant to be wheeled out to residents from this month. Photo / Mathew Nash
Alternative suppliers are being considered for Rotorua’s new organic waste bins after issues linked to the Iran war meant they could not be supplied as planned.
Rotorua Lakes Council’s new waste collection system was due to start on July 1, but has been postponed indefinitely.
The plan was for residents to start receiving new 80L green-lid wheelie bins for food and garden organics (known as FogoFOGO) this month.
They would have started being used from July, with general rubbish (140L red-lid bins) moving from a weekly to a fortnightly collection cycle.
But on May 7, the council announced the service would be delayed, with no revised timeline, because of supply issues.
The global supply of oil has been constrained since the beginning of the Iran war in February.
The subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global shipping lane, and other factors, led to a worldwide shortage of high-density polyethelene (HDPE), the versatile polymer from which Rotorua’s new bins were to be made.
With those materials in short supply, the council said, its proposed New Zealand-based supplier, Sulo, could not manufacture the bins yet.
The council’s infrastructure and assets group manager, Stavros Michael, told Local Democracy Reporting that “no bins have been produced” yet.
Michael said the council was first advised that the planned timeline was “at risk” on March 30.
On April 23, the council was told the HDPE shortage would mean the bins could not be supplied in time.
Michael said “possible alternative options” were now being assessed.
“This includes other suppliers and revised timeframes, which will be carefully considered to ensure value for money and the best outcome for the community,” he said.
The delay was due to factors “outside of the council’s direct control”.
“At the time contracts were agreed, supply chains were operating normally,” he said.
“No issues were or could be anticipated.”
An update on revised plans for Rotorua’s Fogo rollout would be provided once alternative options had been assessed.
The new bin system was already receiving pushback from some members of the community.
In March, the council received a petition of nearly 4600 signatures opposing it.
Councillor Karen Barker confirmed in Wednesday’s council infrastructure meeting that the petition organiser, Vanessa Harvey, did not wish to speak in the public forum.
Harvey wrote in her letter to the council that the petition highlighted “community concern” regarding the proposed changes.
“We respectfully ask the council to reconsider,” she stated.
She outlined three key reasons for the concerns: the accumulation and overflow of household rubbish with less frequent collections, pest issues, and an increase in illegal dumping of waste.
Rotorua councillor Robert Lee has vocally opposed the changes and voted against them in 2022.
He compared it to watching a “slow-moving train wreck”.
He criticised the council’s 2022 community consultation, saying a second feedback round should have been held once a two-weekly rubbish collection was confirmed as part of the proposal.
“It seems, judging by the recent petition, that many people are not on board.”
Lee pointed to the Government’s December 2024 decision to scrap mandatory kerbside composting as evidence that Rotorua’s change was unjustified.
The council has said the move is necessary to reduce landfill, with Rotorua’s facility closing in 2018 and waste currently transported to the Tirohia Landfill in Waikato.
The council estimated a potential 6000 tonnes of waste could be diverted from landfill yearly as part of the scheme.
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said the delay was “really unfortunate”.
She said the current global fuel disruption was a timely reminder of the council’s need to become “self-sustaining”.
The Fogo rollout, which would see green and organic waste converted into energy and fertiliser at Reporoa’s Ecogas facility, was one of the “biggest game-changers” the council could influence.
She said “years of consultation” went into the new system.
“There has also been a key drive from the community who wanted it,” Tapsell said.
“We know it’s one of the most environmentally sustainable projects and impacts we can make as a council.”
Food-scrap bins have been in the news lately, as it emerged that only about 40% of Aucklanders given green bins have been using them.
In Tauranga the figure is even lower – just 27% of households have used their food-scrap bins in 2026, Tauranga City Council figures show.
That was down from 37% in 2021/22, when the 23L bins were introduced as part of a controversial new rates-funded kerbside service with fortnightly rubbish and weekly recycling collections.
The council’s waste minimisation and engagement team leader, Kim Renshaw, still backs the system.
She said more than 3200 tonnes of food waste were diverted from landfill in 2024/25.
“Diverting food scraps away from landfill and into beneficial uses like composting and anaerobic digestion delivers positive environmental outcomes,” Renshaw said.
“This includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving soil health, and supporting a more circular use of our resources.”
Rotorua’s green bins would differ from both Auckland’s and Tauranga’s in that some garden waste, such as lawn clippings, small soft branches, twigs, leaves and weeds, would also be accepted.
A garden waste bin is an optional extra in Tauranga, costing an extra $80 a year for four-weekly collection or $110 for fortnightly collections.
The Auckland Council does not provide a garden waste bin, with residents needing private contractors.
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in Britain for eight years.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.