Goodbye paper bags, hello wheelie bins (+ video)

With the end of paper rubbish bags, Jacqui Mills took the opportunity to get her kids to clean their rooms.

The Utuhina woman asked her daughters, Waiora, 9, Atawhai, 7, and Maia, 5, to clean their rooms of rubbish in anticipation of putting out the final brown paper rubbish bags yesterday.

From Monday, the Rotorua Lakes Council's new kerside rubbish and recycling collection begins, with the brown paper bags replaced by new bins.

Mrs Mills said she thought the change was a good idea but she thought there would be a period of adjustment as Rotorua got used to the new process.

'Time will tell, I think it will reduce clutter in the streets."

LISTEN: The Hits Rotorua host Paul Hickey talks to Rotorua Lakes Council's Rose Hiha-Agnew about the changes to our kerbside refuse collections.

Council transport and waste solutions director Stavros Michael said the council was excited but slightly nervous about the coming week.

"It's a major change for the district but we have been working hard over the past months."

He said the changes would have positive benefits for Rotorua, such as reducing the environmental impacts.

While the council had done everything it could to be ready for Monday, he was pragmatic there may be glitches.

"It may take a bit of time for all the procedures and changes to fall into place but I encourage people who are confused or not sure when their collection day is to get in touch and the council will help them sort them out."

Mr Michael said information about the new service could be found on the Rotorua Lakes Council website, in the booklet provided with the rubbish and recycling bins or by ringing the council contact centre.

He said the collection trucks would have computers on board that would be able to determine which bins had been collected and how much material waste was in each bin.

When asked by the Rotorua Daily Post about a loss of jobs with the change of contractor to Smart Environmental​, Mr Michael said he didn't think there would be significant job losses.

"People will be re-employed in areas such as parks and gardens and water maintenance.
The new contractor will create 20 to 30 new jobs which they can apply for. This change is not a shock, this has been gradually happening over the past 12 months."

Kerbside recycling
- Starts this week
- The red bin (household rubbish) will be collected weekly, while your recycling bin (yellow) and crate (glass) will be picked up once a fortnight.
- If you have additional recycling you can either buy an additional 240 litre bin, take your recycling to the Recycling Centre or rural transfer stations for free.
For if you haven't received your bins or want more information visit rotorualakescouncil.nz/rubbish or call 0800 020 001.