Council's role

Waitaki District Council is focused on promoting and supporting waste minimisation in our region.

Waste minimisation is different from recycling. Instead of trying to work out what to do with waste, waste minimisation is about reducing the amount of waste we create in the first place – for example, buying items with less or no packaging.

We made a decision a few years ago to focus on waste minimisation rather than providing kerbside rubbish collection and recycling - these services have been left to the private market.

This means you don't pay for these services in your rates and can instead choose what service you use and how much you spend.

Some benefits of this system are:

  • The less you waste, the less you pay
  • You get to choose the service you want
  • You don't have to pay rates for people who create more waste
  • If you have a holiday home in the District, you can make your own arrangements to suit
  • Competition is encouraged in the market place
  • Council can focus on trying to minimise waste rather than on end-of-line solutions such as recycling

In addition to promoting waste minimisation, we are also responsible for managing the District's landfills and four of the District's resource recovery parks. 

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