Ōpōtiki district, like the rest of New Zealand, needs to reduce waste going to landfill and increase recycling, says the Ōpōtiki District Council.

"The goal is clear and Council's Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) outlines suggested pathways for getting there.

"Council is asking for submissions on the Plan at the same time as people are submitting on the Long Term Plan."

Council is legally required to have a WMMP and it must be reviewed and updated every three years.

Ōpōtiki Councillor, Arihia Tuoro, says community feedback had been taken into account to build this draft Plan.

'We have been talking to the community about waste for several months and taken that feedback into account in the development of our WMMP.

"We had feedback from conversations at the Pop-up Shop, through our website, on Facebook, on printed forms and emails and there were some consistent themes mostly relating to the urban rubbish collection. Things like the small size of the current black bags, the lack of bins in commonly used public spaces and having to pay to recycle at our RRCs.

'As a Zero-Waste Council we have been working towards increasing recycling and decreasing rubbish to landfill. That goal sits behind all the WMMP and we will continue towards that.

'We are not the only Council grappling with this issue and some of the solutions are bigger than just one Council, but the WMMP is our road-map for getting there and I encourage people to provide their submissions on the plan and the options for changes to the urban rubbish collection included in the Long Term Plan."

Waste is also a key issue in the Long Term Plan and both are currently out for consultation.

Consultation is now open on the WMMP and closes 4pm Friday 25 May. Submissions can be made through the council's website odc.govt.nz/wasteplansubmission or via email or post.

There will be a hearings meeting on Tuesday, 12 June for those that want to speak to Council.

Council will consider all submissions, changes will be made as required and the final Waste Management and Minimisation Plan is due to be adopted on Friday, June 29.