Efforts to retain the ‘pay as you throw’ option in Auckland Council’s new waste management plan have been thrown out.
The majority of councillors on Council’s Governing Body rejected an amendment by Councillors Greg Sayers and Wayne Walker to retain a ‘pay as you throw’ option, particularly for areas north of the Harbour Bridge.
At an Extraordinary Governing Body meeting on June 7, councillors voted to move to a region-wide rates-funded refuse collection service as part of the 2022/23 budget. The service will do away with tags and bags, replacing them with three different bin sizes.
Public law manager Meredith Webb said that the amendment was an issue because Council had not consulted on a hybrid model of both rates funded and pay as you throw.
“We consulted on two options and made a conscious effort not to go for a hybrid option,” Webb said. “If you wanted to have a hybrid model you would have had to consult on that.”
Cr Walker said pay as you throw had been successful and Council should enhance the existing scheme.
“I am disappointed we are going backwards in terms of reducing emissions,” Walker said.
He said that the majority of local boards and communities north of the harbour bridge rejected the rates model.
“People processing their waste on-site will be disincentivised. We need to have options and incentives to reduce their waste,” Walker said.
Cr Richard Hills said that pay as you throw was not shown to reduce waste and a rates-funded model would cost $123 less for the average family.
“Having both rates-funded and pay as you throw would make it considerably more expensive,” Hills said.
Cr Linda Cooper said a rates funded option would be a cheaper option for families struggling financially.
“Pay as you throw is not working,” Cooper said. “We need to get some amalgamation across the city.”
Cr Shane Henderson said he had been on the fence about the issue, but decided a rate-based model was the way to go.
“Low waste producers justifiably have concerns about this, they worry they are subsidising others,” Henderson said. “Rates-funded is the cheaper option for an overwhelming number of residents.”
Councillors Sayers, Walker and John Watson voted against the move to a rate-based service.
