Consultation enables policymakers and our communities to understand the significance that the council and Government places on certain issues, proposals, assets, decisions, and activities. Public input is an important part of ensuring that the decisions made by Council reflect the aspirations of mana whenua, residents, ratepayers, community groups and businesses.
There are two important initiatives currently being consulted on that relate to the way we deal with and minimise waste.
Auckland Council’s Annual Budget proposes standardising kerbside waste services and charges across the region. The changes include a move to a region-wide rates-funded rubbish collection service with a choice of three bin sizes (80l, 120l and 240l) with different pricing for each, to accommodate different needs. This will directly effect properties on the North Shore, Rodney and Waitakere.
Auckland Council has also been promoted the reintroduction of a container return scheme. The Government is currently consulting on a container return scheme to increase the recycling of drink containers, reduce beverage container litter, reduce waste to landfills and reduce emissions.
Container return schemes encourage consumers and businesses to return beverage containers for recycling and/or re-use. They do this by including a refundable deposit in the price of purchase. Consumers get their deposit refunded when they return their empty beverage containers to a designated scheme drop-off point for recycling.
Making a submission to either or both consultations will help policymakers gauge the interest in the proposed changes and crucially, aids them in testing and fine tuning the proposals.
The Auckland Council Annual Budget 2022/2023 is open to submissions until March 28th.
https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/hub-page/annual-budget-2022-2023
Submissions on the container return scheme are open until May 8th.
