Hauraki residents will lose their recycling bins if they breach new rules in a programme aiming to lower contamination rates of collected recyclables.

Contamination levels across the district have risen to about 27%, a sharp rise from a 3% rate pre-Covid.

Adrian de Laborde, Hauraki District Council group manager service delivery, said an entire truckload can become unrecyclable at rates exceeding 10%.

The first infringement of incorrect items sees a tag issued with an education booklet, as to what is and isn’t recyclable, de Laborde said.

Stages two and three come with tags along with formal and final warning letters, respectively.

The fourth and final stage has council confiscate the bin until three consecutive collections of correctly sorted recycling is shown in council-provided clear recycling bins. 

Contamination rates reached heights of 57% before dropping to 3% according to Hauraki District Council group manager service delivery Adrian de Laborde. Photo / Christel Yardley, Waikato Times

“It’s education first and supporting our communities to get back to where they were previously, which was one of the best around at the time,” de Laborde said.

“Once they’re able to correctly understand what is appropriate and what is not, they’ll be able to get their bins back.”

The district has had its share of problems with waste, with council spending $700,000 on the failed ‘Big Belly’ bins, with community misuse playing a role, Adams previously told Local Democracy Reporting.

The new programme’s initial cost is covered by the Government’s waste minimisation fund.

Queries were raised about the enforcement of the programme by councillors, with Stephen Crooymans asking what happens if “I’ve got a couple of neighbours I don’t like and I chuck some batteries in their rubbish?”.

“My daughter lives in Waihī town and I’ve actually seen neighbours go and put crap in,” councillor Des Tyler added.

Examples from February to April of items found in Hauraki resident’s recycling bins. Photo / Hauraki District Council

A suggestion by Adams for residents to use rubber bin locks to discourage that behaviour was made in discussion, likening it to how a locked house is much harder to break into.

De Laborde added “neighbours at war” is the exception rather than the rule and would be assessed on a case-by-case basis. He was confident the community had responded to the education positively once before and was confident they would again.

Deputy Mayor Paul Milner shared the sentiment, saying he expects “90-95% on one strike will get the message”.

“If we leave it with just no strikes and education, we’ll just slowly get worse and worse over time,” he added.

De Laborde confirmed staff will be dispatched in teams to avoid individuals facing abuse from residents, with chief executive David Spiers adding “we definitely won’t put individual staff in those situations”.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.