Three-bin cost terrifies me

OPINION: Without question, the greatest challenge our council will face in 2010 will be how to manage our rubbish. The present three-bin proposal has huge financial implications for our community, writes Tim Shadbolt this week.

According to Mayor Peter Chin, Dunedin's new stadium will cost the average residential ratepayer about $57 a year. We are looking at a three-bin system that will cost the equivalent of building two Dunedin stadiums in Invercargill.

Some of you might have made the effort of reading the Invercargill City Council's full-page "Noticeboards" that outline the proposal.

If you have, congratulations!

I found that these "Noticeboards", along with chairman of works Geoff Piercy's public comments, raised as many questions as were answered.

For example, does our council have "no alternative" because of the Government's Waste Minimisation Act 2008?

I believe we do have alternatives and that only two cities in New Zealand have adopted a three-bin system.

Our "Noticeboard" suggested that the new system would bring us into line with "other New Zealand cities such as Timaru, Christchurch and Auckland".

I visited Auckland city and met with Michael McQuillan, Roger Mills and their contracts manager, John Hadden of VISY, and was given a tour of its recycling centre.

No council in Auckland has adopted a three-bin system and it is unlikely any of them will until the Auckland Transition Committee's solid waste review, being conducted by PriceWaterhouse, is complete.

While the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 reflected the views of the Labour-Alliance Government with Green Party support, it is likely the solid waste review that will be out next month will reflect the views of the present Government.

National MPs Nick Smith and John Carter have already expressed reservations about high costs of the three-bin system.

Having met with council engineers from Auckland city, North Shore city, Waitakere city, Christchurch and Timaru, there is no doubt in my mind that a three-bin system is the most environmentally friendly.

It's just the cost that terrifies me. Christchurch spent $700,000 on educational costs.

It also had to bail out its recycling plant for $19 million when the recession kicked in and the value of recycled materials plummeted.

A similar debate over global warming took place at Copenhagen. Should New Zealanders financially punish ourselves for global warming when we produce only 0.08 per cent of the world's carbon emissions and China is building a new coal-fired power station every week?

The debate between environmental purity and economic reality is presently being fought out in the greater Auckland region.

Auckland city and Manukau city feel they have been sidelined by the transition committee because the royal commission preferred the Waitakere/North Shore bag and bin combo, which costs the ratepayers $28 a year. That's because both councils sell the bags for $2 each and make $1 million a year in profits.

The downside of the bag system is the level of injuries incurred.

I've seen reports that will soon be made public that show around 200 injuries a year result from bag collection, whereas about 20 injuries a year result from wheelie bin collections. It will be interesting to see how this impacts on the royal commission.

OSH and ACC are now able to put a cost on these injuries caused by both broken glass in bags and traffic injuries.

In North Shore city bags cost $1.2 million in injuries, and wheelie bin collections cost only $30,000 in accidents. This could be an important factor.

Another challenging issue is our farmers.

You can just imagine the reaction of our city's farmers to a three-bin system when Southland district farmers next door will require only a two-bin system.

Christchurch recognised how difficult this would be and farmers were made exempt from its three-bin system, as were inner-city ratepayers.

It was felt that wheelie bins would only cause clutter within the commercial centre.

The other issue we need to prepare for is the avalanche of inquiries generated by a three-bin system.

Christchurch hired five extra temps at its call centre for six months but then its computer systems crashed because of the overload.

Do we as a city fully understand the implications and repercussions of a three-bin system?

Christchurch city signalled a three-bin system in its Long Term Council Community Plan but could not introduce the scheme because it had not fully explained the costs involved.

As with all challenges we face as a council we try to keep open minds, but I believe we need to do a lot more research.

Having visited five cities and spoken with eight experts, I've come to the conclusion that rubbish or, to be more precise, solid waste management, is a minefield of contradictions and variables.

Christchurch city councillors visited Timaru en masse to study how the system actually worked.

I believe we need to undertake much more research so that we fully understand the proposed three-bin system.

» Tim Shadbolt is the mayor of Invercargill.

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