Christmas and New Year rubbish and recycling changes

Henderson Rd recycling depot was already at capacity today. Council is managing the high volumes, and asks people to be patient when using the services, and to try and manage their recycling efficiently over the Christmas break.

Rubbish and recycling collections will not be taking place on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day this year, happening instead on the following days – Saturday, December 26 and Saturday, January 2.

Earlier this year Hastings District Council engaged new contractors to operate the kerbside collection services, part of an overarching goal to help the community reduce the amount of waste being produced and going to landfill.

The new contracts mean the hardworking crews now get to enjoy Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday and ANZAC Day with their friends and whānau – unlike in previous years when rubbish and recycling was still collected on these public holidays.

This year, people whose usual Friday collections fall on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day will move to Saturday. It also means in future if a public holiday is at the start of the week the whole week will be pushed out by one day. More details of this can be found at www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/holidaycollections

The Christmas and New Year changes affects households in Akina, St Leonard’s, Brookvale and Whirinaki for rubbish collection and Parkvale, Mayfair and Havelock North for recycling collection. Affected homes were to receive a flyer in their letterboxes as a reminder this week.

Henderson Rd Refuse Transfer Station in Hastings and Blackbridge Refuse Transfer Station in Clive will also be closed for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Being one of the busiest times of year, Council’s solid waste operations and contract manager Danny McClure asked that everyone do their bit to keep rubbish volumes manageable, and be patient if using transfer stations.

“Over this time we ask people to follow the directions of staff if using the transfer stations.

“If you are using a rural recycling facility, please call council on 871 5000 if you see the bin is almost full so we can arrange an empty before it starts to overflow.”

He also advised people not to put large volumes of recycling out for kerbside collection at any one time, and not to overfill their wheelie bins.

Buying an official orange rubbish bag to take any excess rubbish to a transfer station was an option if people had too much to fit into their wheelie bin. People were also encouraged to stagger putting out recycling by holding some back to put out the following week if there was too much for their crates, or dropping it off at a recycling transfer station.

“Anything people can do to help us means we can get the job done more efficiently and ensure the service operates effectively.”

With the increased loads, it was likely the rubbish and recycling trucks would be running different schedules to normal so people should not be alarmed if they did not come at their regular time.

The best way to ensure rubbish and recycling was collected was to put it out on the kerb by 7am, and leave it out until at least 6pm on collection day. If there are any delays to an area’s collection, updates will be posted on the Hastings District Council Facebook page.

If people are keen to sort out other recycling over the holiday season, a handy A to Z guide on what can be reused, recycled and where to dispose of items is available on the council website https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/services/rubbish-and-recycling/wasteguide/

21 December 2020

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