New Kerbside Service FAQs
Will my collection day change?
Waihi Zone One Monday collection area shown in white.
Waihī Zone Two Tuesday Collection area shown in white
What are the changes to the kerbside collections?
Are we getting a rubbish bin instead of yellow pre-paid bags?
One side of the new $8 lime green HDC Pay As You Throw tag for the para rubbish bin. Attach one tag to the rubbish bin each time you put it out for collection. The bin replaces the pre-paid yellow bags and holds the equivalent of 2 and a third of the pre-paid bags.
Why do we need a food scraps bin?
Are the food scraps bin and rubbish bin optional?
No. All properties in kerbside service areas will receive a food scraps bin and a wheelie bin for rubbish.
Will the rubbish, recycling and crates all be collected in the same fortnight?
Do I have to put my rubbish bin out every fortnight, even if it's not full?
No, just because it's collection day, you don't need to put your rubbish bin out if it's not full. Only put it out when you want to - save your PAYT tags for when your bin is full.
Why are there so many bins? Where will I put them?
What if I’m not able to manage putting the bins out myself?
From the 1 September, bach or absent owners can register for a Put Back My Bins service for all bins (landfill, recycling, glass and food scraps) at a cost of $30.00 per house per year in addition to the targeted rate. The bins must be placed at kerbside and after collection, will be placed by our contractor inside the property boundary.
Rate payers can register for an Assisted Kerbside Collection for all bins (landfill, recycling, glass and food scraps) at a cost of $60.00 per year in addition to the targeted rate. The contractor will fetch the bins off the property and return them to the same place.
Interested? Contact our friendly customer services team on 0800 734 834 (free in district) or 07 862 8609 to register your interest.
What can I put in my food scraps bin?
The food scraps bin can accept items like fruit, vegetables, cooked food, meat, fish, egg shells and coffee grounds and tea leaves (not tea bags), left overs, spoiled food, cereals, bread and dairy products.
The food scraps bin is for food waste only not green waste (garden or grass clippings). Green waste must still go to the Refuse Transfer Stations.
You will receive an information booklet when your bin is supplied with more detailed information on what can go in the bin as well as tips on how to make the best use of your food scraps bin.
Will I be getting a kerbside bin for green waste as well?
No. Green waste needs to be taken to the Refuse Transfer Stations.
How will ratepayers / residents pay for the waste services?
Every property in the district pays towards the running of the Waihī and Paeroa Refuse Transfer Stations (RTS). You can recycle free of charge at these sites. We’ll be adding a new Recycling and Green Waste collection centre in River Road Ngātea for Plains residents by 1 September 2023.
Only properties that receive a kerbside recycling service pay a targeted rate for recycling collections. The targeted rate covers the kerbside collection service and disposal costs.
The pre-paid ‘Pay As You Throw’ (PAYT) tag for the 140-litre rubbish to landfill bin will cost $8.00 per collection (recommended retail price). The landfill bin, collected fortnightly, replaces the 60-litre pre-paid official yellow rubbish bags. The $8 is a lower rate per litre of rubbish than the yellow bags.
The tag fee covers the total cost of waste destined to landfill including its collection, transportation, disposal costs and government fees (including Government waste levy and emission charges).
How can I keep costs down?
The more you divert from your landfill bin into your new food scraps bin (collected weekly) and your recycling wheelie bin and glass recycling crate (collected fortnightly), the less will go in your landfill bin.
Remember, we also have collection bins in the district for soft plastics and Liquid Paper Board cartons (like TetraPaks®). Chances are, you might not need to put your landfill bin out every fortnight if you take advantage of all the recycling options in the district. With the PAYT tag, you'll only need one when you put your landfill bin out for collection.
The goal is to reduce unnecessary items going to landfill by reusing, repurposing, recycling and regenerating the earth’s precious resources.
When will I receive my new bins?
The bin deliveries started on Thursday 20 July. It will take 1-2 weeks to deliver all the new rubbish and food scraps bins.
Inside your new para rubbish bin you'll find:
- Your food scraps bin
- Inside your food scraps bin you'll find a handy wire-bound flipchart guide to your bins, with a lucky number on the back and
- A sticker to place on the lid of your current recycling bin to update the plastics information.
Be in to win
Find your unique number on the back of the flipchart guide - it's your entry into our draw to win one of four prizes of a six months' supply of PAYT tags for your rubbish bin.
Drawn throughout August.
We’ll publish the winning numbers in the Valley Profile and HC Post newspapers, as well as on our website and Facebook, so keep your guide handy. Its wire bound like a calendar and can be hung up or placed flat in a drawer. Now that's handy!
Read more about the new bin deliveries:
Why does my recycling bin need to fitted with an RFID tag? When will it happen?
While we’re delivering the new bins, we’re also retrofitting existing recycling bins with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. The tag enables us to identify missed collections and if a bin is lost or stolen, we can return the bin to the correct property. Your new rubbish bin will already have an RFID tag. We won't be tagging the glass recycling crate.
How do I get my recycling bin tagged?
We need you to place your recycling bin out on the kerbside on the day shown below and leave it out for the coming week until the tagging crews have been (they’ve advised that people should leave the bin out for the week preferably, as they don’t know exactly when they will get to each street). By having the bins out Sunday night, they'll be able to make an early start on Monday morning.
Sunday 23 July
Paeroa, Kerepēhi, Turua, Ngātea, Waitakaruru and Kaiaua
Sunday 30 July
Mackaytown, Karangahake, Waikino, Waihī and Whiritoa
Will there be any changes to the Refuse Transfer Stations operations?
Yes. Council will take over the management and operation of the Refuse Transfer Stations (RTS) in Paeroa and Waihī from the 1 September 2023.
Paeroa and Waihī RTS operating hours:
Monday & Tuesday CLOSED
Wednesday to Sunday OPEN from 10:00am to 4:00pm
From the 1 September, we’ll also open a new Recycling and Green Waste collection centre for the Plains in River Road, Ngātea.
Ngatea Recycling Drop-off Centre operating hours:
Recycling Bins will be available 24 hours / 7 days
Green Waste can only be dropped off from 12:00 to 4:00pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays (when Council staff will be in attendance).
You’ll be able to drop off your clean recycling free of charge. That includes paper, cardboard, aluminium cans, tins and rigid plastics 1,2,5 and clean glass bottles and jars.
What happens to my recycling collected at kerbside (recycling, glass and food scraps)?
Will there be employment opportunities?
There will be many roles available with the new contractor Waste Management. If you are interested in what recruitment opportunities might be available, please contact Waste Management directly or keep an eye out on Seek and Trade Me Jobs.
Council will also be recruiting for staff for the Refuse Transfer Stations. Recruitment will start in July. Positions will be advertised on our website, in the local newspapers and on social media.
Please note: The information in the FAQs has been provided to the best knowledge of our Council at the time these FAQs were prepared in April 2023.
When and how did Council consult on the waste management and minimisation plan?
New kerbside collection starting on 1 September, alternating between a Recycling and food scraps week and a Rubbish and food scraps week.
Answers to our kerbside collection quiz - did you take it?
Congratulations to Paul Green, our randomly drawn winner of a three-month supply of our rubbish bin PAYT tags!
Thank you to everyone who completed the quiz. Out of all responses, there’s been an 88.8% correct answer for the first question – “What’s new about the kerbside service?”. That’s really pleasing to see!
Here's the answers to the quiz (with average percentage of correct answers in blue text)
What’s new about the service:
New food scraps bin collected weekly; new rubbish wheelie bin (replacing pre-paid yellow bags) with lime green HDC Pay As You Throw Tag, collected fortnightly. No change to recycling bin and glass recycling crate. Collections alternate weekly between a Rubbish + Food scraps collection and Recycling + Food scraps collection (89.9%)
What time do your bins need to be at kerbside on collection day?
7:30am (62.2%). A further 35.9% answered earlier than 7:30am, which is also right! Better to be early than late on collection day
Which way do bins need to face at kerbside?
Front of bin faces the road. (96.9%)
How far apart should bins be at kerbside?
30cm (62.9%)
At kerbside, the foodscraps bin handle needs to be in what position?
Upright, in locked position (80.2%)
Which bins go out on the Rubbish Week collection?
Food scraps bin and rubbish wheelie bin (91.2%)
Which bins go out on Recycling Week collection?
Food scraps bin, recycling bin, glass recycling crate (80.9%)
When will your new food scraps bin and rubbish bin be delivered?
Late July/early August (52.3%)
How much is the new PAYT rubbish bin tag?
$8.00 (70.5%)
What colour is HDC’s PAYT rubbish bin tag?
Lime green -(33.2%). Final product looks a bit more like apple green. Yellow was the popular answer but ours are green to distinguish it from Western Bay of Plenty’s tag which is orange.
Besides kerbside recycling, what other recycling options are in the district?
HDC Soft plastics and HDC liquid paperboard collection bins; Hauraki Repair and Reuse Centre; free drop off of recycling at our Refuse Transfer Stations (87.6%)
What happens to yellow pre-paid bags after 1 September?
No collection at kerbside; they will be accepted at Refuse Transfer Stations till December 2023; PAYT tag on rubbish bin instead of yellow bag; there will be no refund on unused yellow bags (85.4%)
Will the Plains have a new recycling and green waste collection centre in River Road, Ngatea from 1 September?
Yes, true (91.1%)
On a scale of 1 – 10, how well informed to you feel about the changes. Ten being most informed.
Average rating from all responses: 7.3 out of 10
How did you do?
Your answers have been invaluable for helping us to shape our communications for the next month. Watch out for our Para Kai Food Scraps advertising coming out in August – there’ll be another quiz!
We’re updating our FAQ’s on our website all the time, so don’t forget to check those out to stay up to date.
Will rural households get a kerbside collection?
At the moment, the new service is available for urban properties only. However, we'll be starting a kōrero with our rural community in October, to find out how much demand there is for a kerbside collection. Because rural roads are often long, and sparsely populated, there'll need to be buy-in from the majority of households on each rural road, before the service is viable. Once we've established the level of interest, we'll cost the service and then do a formal consultation with our rural community, as part of our Long Term Plan in March 2024.
At present, rural properties do not pay the targeted rate for kerbside collection, but they do pay the targeted rate for the provision of our Refuse Transfer Stations, along with all properties in Hauraki District.
