Effective and reliable
Weekly collections run well and most queries are about replacement bins and repairs, rather than issues with the service.
Intro
Tuakau urban residents who currently use the Council-provided wheelie bin rubbish service are being asked to share their views on which rubbish collection method they would prefer - wheelie bins with an associated rates increase or rubbish bags.
The wheelie bin service costs Council more to provide, and currently those costs are shared district wide (excluding Raglan). If the wheelie bin service continues these additional costs will now need to be fully paid for by the households that use the service.
Who is Council consulting with?
Council is wanting to consult with the current Tuakau households who receive a wheelie bin service and is not looking to expand the wheelie bin collection service.
- For residential properties currently on a bag service, the bag service will remain.
- For any new residential properties developed in Tuakau, the rubbish service provided by council will be decided at Council’s discretion based on district plan zones and operational considerations.
Tuakau commercial properties will no longer receive Council rubbish and recycling services from 1 July 2027, as outlined in the 2025–2035 Long Term Plan. This decision was communicated after the adoption of the Long Term Plan in June 2025.
Council wants to know whether Tuakau residents prefer to keep the wheelie bin service, with the associated rates increase, or switch to rubbish bags. Your feedback will help our elected members when they decide which service will be provided to Tuakau from 1 July 2027.
Have your say!
Tuakau is the only part of the Waikato district where Council provides residents with a wheelie bin rubbish service. The service is a carryover from when Tuakau was part of Franklin district, but it creates more costs for Council. Currently these extra costs are spread across all rated households in the district, meaning that the Tuakau wheelie bin service is being subsidised by the rest of the district.
About every 10 years Council renews its waste service contracts. To prepare for the new contracts, Council attempted to streamline the services across the district, bring fairness to the rating charges and help minimise waste to landfill. Council data shows that wheelie bins lead to more waste going to landfill than bags.
This resulted in Council informing the Tuakau community in May 2025 that the wheelie bin service would cease from 1 July 2027. Feedback from the community was received and led Council to make the decision to undertake formal consultation with the Tuakau community. Council are now seeking feedback on whether Tuakau residents want to keep the wheelie bin service, with the associated rate increase or move to the rubbish bag service used across the rest of the district.
The wheelie bin service costs more because Council must buy, store, deliver, repair and replace bins, while also managing the extra staff time these tasks require. Households with wheelie bins also send more waste to landfill, which increases disposal costs. Households in a “bag only” route in the North of the district put out 120kg a year less rubbish than households in the largest wheelie bin route. Bin tags cost more to make than bag stickers. All these small increases add up.
Tuakau residents with wheelie bins make up 7% of those that receive a council waste service, but service requests from this community make up 10% of the total waste related requests. These requests take much more staff time to resolve, and are mostly around bin management rather than service issues.
Right now, the extra costs are shared across the district, but if the wheelie bin service continues after 1 July 2027, the costs would be allocated only to the Tuakau properties that use the service.
| Wheelie bin | Bags | |
| Level of service | Continue to receive a weekly wheelie bin service. Noting: Council will no longer be collecting bags from these properties in addition to the wheelie bin. | Change to weekly bag service. You can keep the wheelie bin you can use it how you like, e.g., for holding rubbish bags close to your house. |
| Targeted rates | Targeted rate for waste collection is modelled to increase between $104 - $125 per annum to cover wheelie bin specific services. This will apply from 1 July 2027 and is on top of the the base Waste Targeted Rate that all others in the district pay. | Targeted rates will remain at the same level as the rest of the district. |
| Tags and Stickers | The current tag price is $6 per tag, for a 120 litre wheelie bin. This may change in the 2027-2037 LTP. | The current sticker price is $3 per sticker for a 60 litre rubbish bag. This may change in the 2027-2037 LTP. |
| Targeted rate and tag and sticker charges | As this change won’t come into effect until 1 July 2027, Council will have, in the meantime, renegotiated our waste service contracts and consulted with the community on our 2027-2037 Long Term Plan. If the outcome of either of these changes the overall cost of waste services, the base targeted rate and / or the user pays portion (tags and stickers), may change from today’s values. If Tuakau residents keep the wheelie bin service, the targeted rate cost will go up by a modelled $104 - $125 per annum, on top of the base waste targeted rate that all others in the district pay. | |
| Recycling services | Status quo An extra recycling crate, specifically for glass, will be provided to each household to increase recycling capacity, as decided in the 2025-2034 Long Term plan. | |
Benefits: wheelie bin vs bags
About 2,100 Waikato District households use a 120 litre wheelie bin with a $6 user pays tag, each time you put out your bin.
Most Waikato District households (about 27,500) use a weekly 60 litre rubbish bag service with a $3 Council prepaid sticker, for each bag you put out.
Benefits for each option include:
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Effective and reliable
The service operates well across the district. While animals can sometimes rip bags, service request data shows this isn’t a major issue, and contractors must collect any litter within two metres.
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Less risk of spills
Bins are less likely to split or be attacked by animals, though they may blow over in strong winds.
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Supports waste reduction
Bag users send less waste to landfill. Wheelie bin households dispose of at least 120 kg more waste each year and put 4.8% more garden waste in their rubbish.
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Easier for some residents
Bins can be wheeled instead of lifted, though they may be difficult when full for people using mobility aids.
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Easier for new residents
People can start using the service immediately by buying bags and stickers, unlike wheelie bins which require processing and delivery.
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Wider timeframe for placing kerbside
Because bins are protected from animals, residents can place them out the night before collection.
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More suitable for a rural district
Waikato District is highly rural, with over 50% of rubbish collections at rural properties.
Rural collections present challenges, particularly for wheelie bins, due to narrow and winding roads, limited berm space, and safety risks on highspeed roads. -
Tidier appearance
Bins can look neater on the kerbside and around the home.
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Lower costs for low-waste residents
Wheelie bins have a capacity of 120 litres and require a $6 tag per collection. Rubbish bags are 60 litres and require a $3 sticker. Households that produce smaller volumes of waste can benefit from the lower, more flexible cost of the bag service.
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No need to buy rubbish bags
Residents don’t have to keep purchasing bags.
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Flexible weekly disposal
For low‑waste households, the bag service allows smaller amounts of rubbish to be disposed of weekly without additional cost. Residents can easily manage changes in weekly waste volumes by placing out one or multiple bags as needed.
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Benefits specific to Tuakau
Familiarity
- Residents are used to the current wheelie bin service.
Past community preference
Strong support for wheelie bins was shown during the last Long Term Plan process in 2025. -
Less kerbside clutter
Bags disappear once collected, while bins may remain at the kerb for a day or longer.
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Benefits for waste contractors
There is less repetitive lifting for bins, meaning less risk of injuries caused by lifting.
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Easier for rural households
Feedback from rural residents in other areas and in the past from WDC consultation also indicates that rubbish bags are easier to manage than transporting wheelie bins along long gravel driveways.
