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Supplied
Starting in April, food scraps bins have been rolled out to Auckland’s west and north.
Close to 500 food scrap bins have been replaced by Auckland Council, after reports of theft, damages or it accidently been taken.
Council rolled out the food scraps collection across Auckland in April, after a trial period in Papakura in 2018, the total rollout costing around $7 million.
The 23-litre bins was introduced to stop 40,000 tonnes of waste going into landfills.
Fruit, vegetables, bread, dairy products, meat bones, coffee grounds and tea bags are some of the items that can be put in the bin.
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From collection, the scraps will are taken to a holding facility in Papakura, before being trucked to the Ecogas food processing plant in Reporoa.
Council waste solutions general manager Parul Sood said 150,000 bins have been delivered to households since April 3.
She said since then, 446 bins have been issued as replacements, but they didn’t have a record of whether these were reported as stolen, or accidently taken or damaged.
“For any roll-out of a service, we factor in losses and damage, whether intentional or unintentional,” Sood said.
Breakfast
Activist Kate Hall says Kiwi households throw away 86kg of food each year. (Video first published April 26, 2023)
“We are only a third of the way through the rollout, so it’s too early to tell whether the number of missing bins is unusual.”
The first advice given to people when they contact council about a missing bin was to check with their neighbours.
“And if they cannot locate the bin, we replace the bin.”
Sood said they were pleased at the food scraps rollout so far.
“We are delivering bins to 500,000 households and beginning collections in a staged rollout.
Auckland Council/Supplied
The 23-litre bins was introduced to stop waste going into landfill.
“It requires a great deal of coordination and hasn’t been without its challenges. That said, these have been minor given the scale of the undertaking.”
She thanked residents in Waitākere and the North Shore who were using the food scraps bins and have diverting “more than 700 tonnes of food scraps from [the] landfill to date”.
“If you believe your bin has not been delivered, please contact us. Please remember to put your bin out every week even if you only have a handful of food scraps.”
Correction: 150,000 bins have been delivered, not 15,000 as previously reported. Story amended July 1, 3.54pm.
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