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Waitakere City's user-pays inorganic rubbish collection will start in February in a bid to rid the streets of kerbside piles of picked-over junk.
It will mean big changes in habits. Residents will have to book the
service either online or at the council counter and it is no longer free. The $11.25 fee has to be paid in advance and people must book a fortnight ahead of their street's scheduled collection.
Each household is limited to the equivalent of two car boots full of rubbish which can be furniture, toys, appliances, gardening equipment and metal items.
Placing items on the street is now illegal and liable to earn a $400 fine.
On their collection day, residents must pile rubbish inside their property, on or near the driveway, said planning and regulatory committee chairman Vanessa Neeson.
She said the collection would discourage illegal commercial scavenging and dumping from residents outside the city.
But it would encourage waste reduction.
"Under our old system there was no incentive ... a user-pays service, however, provides the incentive."
Bookings: www.inorganiccollection.co.nz
