Council confirms prices for new kerbside rubbish and recycling service

The only change is a proposed reduction in the cost of the 80L rubbish bin for low waste users. The proposal will see the smallest sized wheelie bin for rubbish drop from $114 per year to $105 - an 8 per cent reduction.

The proposed prices, to be confirmed by Council on 24 May 2021, are therefore as follows:

Weekly rubbish collection service

• 80L - $105 per annum
• 120L - $144 per annum
• 240L - $288 per annum

Fortnightly recycling service 

• $105 per annum

Optional green waste service 

• $95 per annum

Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry is pleased that steps could be taken to lower the cost of the new service for low waste producers.

"During the consultation period for the new rubbish and recycling service we heard loud and clear that we could be doing more to support low waste producers," Campbell Barry says.

"We accepted that feedback, and since then have done work to look at options to reduce the cost of the smallest bin in order to reward low waste producers and incentivise people to dispose of less rubbish.

"While the price reduction is relatively small, it’s an important signal that we want people to produce less rubbish and that we all need to do more to reduce our impact on the environment,"

Chief Executive Jo Miller says that based on past surveys a quarter of Lower Hutt households use one rubbish bag or less per week.

"While we’ve been working on the implementation of the new rubbish and recycling service the Mayor and Councillors asked what could be done to assist these residents in terms of making the service more affordable and to encourage more people to recycle and re-use," Jo Miller says.

"Officers will focus over the coming year on other ways to support low waste producers and to minimise rubbish going to landfill."

Hutt City Council is providing wheelie bins for rubbish and recycling to residents along with a crate for glass recycling.

The new rates-funded rubbish and recycling service starts on 1 July and will replace current council rubbish bags and the existing recycling crate. It will be cheaper for the majority of households in Lower Hutt.