Tough calls for Whanganui councillors on food waste collections vote

Ruapehu sustainability educator Emily Jasmine and driver Teriaki TeHuia checking the temperature of the hot composting unit in Taumarunui. Photo / Supplied

A majority of Whanganui district councillors voted last week in favour of a kerbside food waste collection in 2024. Ruapehu has had one since 2020. How has it worked out for them?

Liz Wylie reports.

While Whanganui district councillors unanimously voted to introduce kerbside recycling for urban Whanganui - the decision on food waste collection posed more of a dilemma.

It passed - but four of them voted against introducing the service in 2024 during last week's annual plan deliberations.

The council's general property manager, Sarah O'Hagan, informed councillors that the waste levies that are paid by landfill operators and go towards initiatives to reduce waste would lower the estimated cost the food waste collection from $60.84 a year to $42.64 which equates to 82 cents a week per household.

O'Hagan said the levies were set to increase which would enable the council to access more funding for its kerbside collections. She recommended that elected members balanced the desire to keep rates low with the responsibility to act on climate change.

Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan voted against the proposal at the council's annual plan deliberations after submissions indicated there was not much support for introducing the service.

The submissions showed that just 35 per cent supported food waste collection while 63 per cent of respondents supported recycling.

"My vote against was based on my understanding that councillors did not have a mandate from the public to introduce the service. The public did not have the additional information about reduced costs when they made their submissions so that made it harder. I voted with the option that the majority of submissions supported," Baker-Hogan said.

"A lot of the submissions that opposed the service were about the costs but there were a number of other reasons too."

Baker-Hogan said rising living costs were affecting many people in Whanganui and any additional household costs, even small ones, put additional stress on strained budgets.

Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan said the weight of submissions opposing food waste collection compelled her to vote against the proposal. Photo / Bevan Conley Photo / Bevan Conley

Councillor Helen Craig voted in favour of introducing the service after hearing reports from council staff.

"I went into the meeting thinking that I would vote against the food waste collection because a majority of submitters didn't support the idea.

"A lot of the opposition was based on the projected cost of the service but the revised amount equates to less than a dollar a week per household. I had to ask if the cost per household was significant when balanced against the council's responsibility to minimise the effects of climate change."

Craig said submitters had also raised concerns about food waste bins being smelly and some said they already composted all their food waste.

"The collection bins would have lids and won't smell and not all food waste can go into home compost bins. It's great to know that people are composting a lot of their own food waste but the service would collect cooked food as well as meat scraps and bones that can't be composted," she said.

Councillor Helen Craig said the cost of food waste collection had to be balanced against the council's environmental responsibilities. Photo / Bevan Conley

Ruapehu District Council was an "early adopter" of kerbside food waste collection and has been running its scheme since October 2020. By May this year, 216.5 tonnes of food waste had been diverted from landfills.

A main driver for the scheme was the imminent closure of the district's landfill which meant the council was faced with transporting waste out of the district for disposal at a much higher cost to ratepayers.

Council communications manager Paul Wheatcroft said the scheme is generally running well after 18 months apart from some contamination in the food waste and said education was needed to resolve the issue.

"We supply free, compostable bags for the service but this does leave it difficult for the contractor to see any contamination on pickup.

"Ongoing communication and education are key to resolving the issue and for maintaining and encouraging uptake."

Wheatcroft said positive spin-offs of the service were a boost in local employment of drivers for the waste truck fleet which can also provide services at events like the upcoming Ohakune Mardi Gras, or pick up different materials such as glass.

"The food waste service has been integrated into our kerbside collection fairly smoothly with our contractor EnviroWaste managing pickups and the Hot Composting Unit [HCU]."

The council established the HCU in Taumarunui after investigating the successful unit operating in Raglan.

Ruapehu was the first rural New Zealand council to adopt a food waste collection and Wheatcroft said the scheme was working well for the district despite some issues. The council was investigating the possibility of extending the service to commercial hospitality users.

Whanganui District Council now has two years to prepare for its food waste collection after a majority of nine councillors voted in favour of introducing the service in mid-2024.