16 June 2026: Organics collection (FOGO), lakefront litter

Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Food and Green Organics (FOGO) collection

Enquiry

I am just following up on the new date for the FOGO rollout and have a few questions regarding the delay, new supplier and any potential changes to forecasting.

There are quite a few questions here, so would a deadline of EOB Monday be appropriate your end?

Let me know when you can and I can adjust expectations.

The annual ratepayer cost is now listed as $27.52 per household. Has that figure changed since the service was approved, and if so, what has driven the increase?

Has changing from a New Zealand-manufactured bin to an international supplier affected the cost of the programme?

Did the delay create any additional costs for council or ratepayers?

What is the total annual cost of the service, and what savings does council expect from reduced landfill disposal?

Who is the new international supplier and where are the bins being manufactured?

What due diligence was undertaken before selecting the new supplier?

Was the new supplier selected through a new procurement process, or under existing contractual arrangements?

What assurances has council received that further supply chain disruptions will not affect the rollout?

Earlier council communications referred to an 80% reduction in the kerbside waste carbon footprint, while newer material refers to a 70% reduction in council's carbon footprint. Are these different measures, and can council provide the modelling behind both figures?

Has council modelled the impact on larger households, households with young children, or households generating significant hygiene waste?

Does council have an estimate of how many households are likely to request larger rubbish bins once fortnightly collections begin?

What metrics will council use to determine whether the rollout has been successful and when will council formally review the programme's performance?

Reporter clarified that the 70% figure he referenced came from this news item on RLC’s website (see FAQs)

He also asked us to confirm the $27.52 per ratepayer had not changed, noting it was previously listed as $24.71.

Response

From Craig Goodwin, Manager Waste and Climate Change:

The kerbside food and green organics (FOGO) collection will cost $27.52 per household in the service area, unchanged despite delays caused by global supply issues.

Council’s nine-year contract with Smart Environmental covers bin supply. Moving to Rotaform – a New Zealand-owned company that manufactures bins in Australia and other countries – adds a one-off capital cost of about $300,000 which will be absorbed within the existing contract.

The service costs $2.45m per year, offset significantly by $1.6m in landfill savings from diverting 6,000 tonnes of waste and collection costs reduction from moving to fortnightly waste collections.

Bins are already in production, with materials secured for full delivery to households from August.

The new system increases total weekly waste capacity from 282.5 to 292.5 litres. Council reviewed the current service and provided different options during consultation, taking into account the needs of different households. Financial analysis shows it’s not practical to change collection frequency for individual households under a fixed charge. Doing so would either unfairly increase costs for most users or add complexity and extra administration costs that ratepayers would have to cover.

Households that produce more waste than the level of service agreed by Council when the targeted rate was set can choose to pay for extra capacity. Additional bins are available on a user-pays basis. This is the same as under the current service.

Council does not hold estimates of how many households will need an extra red-lid rubbish bin. Performance of the new service will be tracked through participation, the level of waste diversion and overall waste reduction, with results reported to the council’s Infrastructure Committee.

We also provided two images: of the FOGO bunker at the Rotorua South Resource Recovery Park (former landfill) and of FOGO bins under production (at a rate of approx. one every 59 seconds)

We informed the reporter that we are still sourcing information regarding the workings for % reduction in carbon footprint (which is based on work done by former staff who are no longer with RLC)

We clarified that the 70% figure he referenced was a typo and confirmed that the $24.71 per ratepayer charge figure was an estimate prior to the final rate ($27.52) being confirmed and set.

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Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Lakefront litter

Enquiry

NOTE: This is a follow-up/additional to enquiry we responded to yesterday re litter at the lakefront:

Just a few follow-up questions, if you don't mind chasing these up.

• What date did the toilets go out of operation?
• What is the estimated completion date for repairs and reopening?
• Given multiple agencies are involved, who is ultimately accountable for ensuring litter on/in the lake at popular public access points does not accumulate to visible levels?

Response

We provided the following information, additional to information provided yesterday:

The toilets have been closed since 17 March when the power supply problem was reported.

We will be re-opening these facilities as soon as is possible but contractors first need to undertake testing to determine what needs to be done to fix the problem and how long that will take. That testing is underway.

RLC’s area of responsibility is generally on the shoreline/lake reserves.

We understand you’ve contacted BOPRC so they will be able to provide you with information relating to what they do.