The Constantly Increasing Cost of Rubbish Collection (Wellington)

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#2750990 28-Jul-2021 00:57

sbiddle:
timmmay:

Ah. I checked the price of the bin company.

Everybody in Lower Hutt got given a bin by the council and you pay for this in your rates so there is no real market left for 3rd party bin companies in Lower Hutt - while I see some red bins around still anybody paying for one of these is also paying the council for one of their bins as well.

It is a core service that councils should provide imo, as they always previously have. But many councils moved away from it when bin companies appeared, although many still offer bags which you can buy, but they can be expensive. NZ can really suck at this sort of thing. My town has rubbish bags but last year a bin company dropped a free trial bin outside everyones houses to try out, and then offered a cheap deal after the trial, which worked out cheaper than council bags. But I wonder if those low prices will last.

1101

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#2751115 28-Jul-2021 11:35

My local council is trying to minimize household refuse . There is the issue of dumps filling up & no one wanting a new rubbish dump in their area
And all the issues trying to create new rubbish dumps , red tape , consulting, resource consents .

So, they went from smallish bags to rather large bins . It makes no sense .
Local costs start at $2.80 for a 80l bin.
My 140l bin is $4.10
They have even larger bins available, so minimizing household waste, yeah...

If charges go up to much, the council will have to spend even more to deal with ever increasing illegal rubbish bumping
Thats allready an issue , every week I see junk & trash dumped on the side of the road .

rayonline

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#2790853 7-Oct-2021 08:22

A bit late to the party here. Wellington here too. I am just looking at my options for rubbish bins for another 12 months. We are also with Low Cost Bins and before they were Econowaste. They used to be competitive but are now more than their competitors.

Low Cost Bins $420 for a 240L every week collected, you cannot put your collection on hold if you go on holiday. Daily Waste is $395 and Waste Management is $394.50, these 2 have 4 weeks you can put on hold or if you simply forget I think.

A number of my neighbours have now moved to council bags now.

timmmay

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#2790861 7-Oct-2021 08:39

Low Cost Bins recently added the option for a green waste bin for $120 / year collected fortnightly with the code "gogreen". That will be composted. That might let some reduce the size of their main bin, though it only saves $10 per year if you do that. It's more than it reduces landfill.

timmmay

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#3106460 21-Jul-2023 07:46

I've updated the first post of the thread to show the latest prices, and copied them below. The prices are going up by increasing amounts, though the percentage increase is staying about the same. Prices are going up faster than inflation. If this continues eventually we'll be paying our entire salaries for rubbish collection, though that won't matter because before then we'll be paying our entire salaries for rates.

2016: $251
2017: $289 ($38 / 15% increase)
2019: $360 ($71 / 24% increase)
2021: $420 ($60 / 16% increase)
2022: $480 ($60 / 14% increase)
2023: $566 ($86 / 18% increase)

Wellington City Council uses relatively small and fairly impractical plastic bags rather than bins. I figure we'd use four a week on average, costing $735 per year. All the bin providers charge almost exactly the same price, so it either reflects the price of collection, or (unlikely I guess) the industry is price fixing. It's more likely that the price of everything is going up - people, petrol, trucks, rubbish dumps, etc.

nzkc

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#3106464 21-Jul-2023 07:59

timmmay:

I figure we'd use four a week on average, costing $735 per year. All the bin providers charge almost exactly the same price, so it either reflects the price of collection, or the industry is price fixing.

Based on your $735 figure estimate; I am guessing the bin providers/collectors are looking at what it'd cost for council collection and pricing just low enough to be attractive and therefore competitive. They will of course be looking at each others prices too. So not necessarily price fixing. Also not a guarantee they're not!

MikeB4

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#3106599 21-Jul-2023 10:37

What is the recycling regime in the capital?

Prior the change in Hutt City we had a large general rubbish wheelie, Large green waste wheelie and a tiny recycling bucket that could fit very little. Our rubbish bin was always filled to the top. After the change we have a large general recycling bin, a large green waste bin a small general rubbish bin and a small glass recycling bin. Our recycling bins are always full by collection day but our small general rubbish bin is usually half full or less when it goes.

Off the top of my head I believe it costs us about $350 a year on our rates. The big take is the amount we send to landfill is now tiny and thats a big win.

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timmmay

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#3106605 21-Jul-2023 10:55

Wellington City rubbish / recycling is not useful, really. WCC lets you buy fairly small rubbish bags, which are impractical IMHO. If you mow your lawns in the summer they're a pain to fill, and you fill 3-4 of them, and you have to store them indoors as otherwise animals get into them.

WCC provides a 120L recycling bin which is collected every two weeks. Our 2 adult / one child household easily fill it up every two weeks, and even then we have to take bulk cardboard to the recycling center once a month, which is a 15 minute drive, so great for the environment.

Some of the rubbish providers offer 240L garden waste bins cheaper, but they're strictly for garden waste, not for food scraps. That might be handy in summer, but not so much generally.

There is a "pay as you go" service from one provider. Weekly collection is $11.31, collection as required is $18.39, so you'd have to skip about 40% of collections to break even on that.

MikeAqua

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#3106608 21-Jul-2023 11:01

Our bin providers in Blenheim are substantially cheaper than the council, who will be forcing all households to use their bins.

We'd prefer to stay with a private business, but we can't opt out of the council service.

There is a group of people putting together some legal action, but I doubt it will go anywhere.

Mike

elpenguino

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#3106626 21-Jul-2023 11:57

MikeB4:

What is the recycling regime in the capital?

We have a large recycling wheelie bin and a smaller glass bin. Collected alternately every two weeks.

Nothing for food scraps or garden waste.

FWIW, a car load of garden waste (only) is about $15 to dump at Spicer land fill.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

WyleECoyoteNZ

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#3106632 21-Jul-2023 12:21

I have the Waste Management wheeliebin, and had an email from them stating that the monthly price was changing from $49.20 t$55.06. This is the reason they gave, so I'd assume it'll be the same for all providers

This increase is due in part to the Government increasing and expanding the Waste Disposal Levy, which means it is becoming more expensive to dispose of waste at landfill.

Paying monthly is a little bit more expensive, but there's no contract, so can change/drop if need be.

Bin doesn't always go out, didn't this week as only 2 bags in it, however in spring and summer, it's often full with grass clippings, tree branches that have been pruned, weeds etc.

Eva888

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#3106659 21-Jul-2023 14:11

Maybe time for a big drum down the corner of the gardens and burn it!

So sick of the cost of basic services when we are charged some of the highest Rates in the country.

It’s as if a team of exorbitantly priced consultants sit around Wellington City Council with sharp pencils scheming how to create the most angst and difficulty for ratepayers, to justify what they earn. Ha and wait for your new rates bill.

I personally know one couple heading South and one going to Brisbane just to escape this place.

timmmay

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#3106663 21-Jul-2023 14:24

It would be nice if WCC could do a decent rubbish collection service similar to what Lower Hutt does. We'd save more than $200 per year. I'm not sure they'd have the capacity, since private providers probably collect more rubbish than the council does as the council has been so poor at it for so long.

mattwnz

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#3106684 21-Jul-2023 15:16

timmmay:

It would be nice if WCC could do a decent rubbish collection service similar to what Lower Hutt does. We'd save more than $200 per year. I'm not sure they'd have the capacity, since private providers probably collect more rubbish than the council does as the council has been so poor at it for so long.

Councils need to go back to their core services such as bin collection, maintaining water and waste pipes etc, rather than farming them out to third parties, or requiring rate payers do this. Councils potentially can get far better value for ratepayers by providing refuse collection, as proven by Lower Hutts pricing. We paid a lot for rubbish collection in Upper Hutt and it increased substantially each years, as per the OPs experience. The council only provided bags you had to pay for which were expensive, and they stopped doing kerbside recycling. So hardly anyone did recycling as a result.

johno1234

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#3106685 21-Jul-2023 15:21

mattwnz:

It is a core service that councils should provide imo, as they always previously have. But many councils moved away from it when bin companies appeared, although many still offer bags which you can buy, but they can be expensive. NZ can really suck at this sort of thing. My town has rubbish bags but last year a bin company dropped a free trial bin outside everyones houses to try out, and then offered a cheap deal after the trial, which worked out cheaper than council bags. But I wonder if those low prices will last.

I had no idea! Assumed that as in Auckland (and Whangamata and Queenstown), the council would collect (or contract to collect) the bins. Wellington council really is the pits. What do they actually do for your rates money?

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