The new Tauranga City Council rubbish bin and recycling bin line-up. Photo / George Novak
The new Tauranga City Council rubbish bin and recycling bin line-up. Photo / George Novak
Most Tauranga residents appear to be aware of the July 1 start date for the council's new council rubbish collection service but a small number are jumping the gun.
Tauranga City Council says it has received 18 reports (0.04 per cent of delivered bins to date) about bins being put out before the new kerbside collection had started.
Parkvale resident Isabelle Crosson, 26, received the new bins after she and her husband moved from Pāpāmoa and started putting them out for collection straight away.
"We received the bins, saw other people putting bins out and just followed suit, which is what you would normally do on your street when you're not sure when bin day is."
However, after coming home to find their rubbish had not been collected, Crosson did some research online.
"After a good deep dive into the council website, I found the information. It said we were supposed to be receiving a food scraps bin, and that would have information inside it. We haven't received that."
Crosson believed communication from the council about the new service should have been more easily accessible online or they should have been sent something in the mail.
"This is a big change [the council] is rolling out."
She said there should have been "something straight away on their website that you can click on instantly".
A council bin put out early in Bellevue. Photo / George Novak
Last Friday, the Bay of Plenty Times visited Bellevue, Brookfield and Matua to see how many council bins were out on their collection day and found only one household had put their red bin out.
Tauranga City Council sustainability and waste manager Sam Fellows said the council had aimed to make information about the new kerbside collection service clear and accessible.
"We have endeavoured to ensure that the July 1 start date is prominent on our information about the new service and in our advertising and promotion of it to ratepayers and households.
"It's good to see these householders were eager to use their new bins however they will have to wait a few more weeks."
The council's homepage has a note stating the start date of the bin collection.
New service: What you need to know
• The new kerbside service starts on July 1. Start using your bins a week or so ahead of your first collection.
• Food scraps will be collected weekly and everything else fortnightly.
• Each household will be given a collection day and week (either "Week 1" or "Week 2") which can be found on the side of the new bins.
• If you are "Week 1", your rubbish will be collected in the first week, and recycling in the second week. If you are "Week 2", it's recycling first, then rubbish.
• Each bin is collected by a different truck, so bins will be emptied at different times on collection day.
