Organic green and food waste collection - Ōkāreka and Mamaku

Rotorua Lakes Council would like to know whether or not Ōkāreka and Mamaku residents would like a food organic and green organic (FOGO) waste collection service. Ōkāreka and Mamaku residents should have received a letter in the post or an email.

Have your say

Please indicate your preference

Before the new collection service starts in July 2026, Council wants to confirm the views of the Mamaku and Ōkāreka communities about whether they wish to have either:

  1. a weekly food and green waste collection and a fortnightly household rubbish collection; or
  2. want to retain the status quo of a weekly household rubbish collection with no organic food and green waste collection.

Council is asking Mamaku and Ōkāreka residents to indicate their preference, so final decisions can be made. Please indicate your preference, by completing the survey.

Further information on this project is available

Email Infrastructure.Environment@rotorualc.nz if you have any questions.

Council decision making post-consultation

Once feedback has been received, Council will make a final decision on the inclusion or exclusion of your community from the new FOGO collection service, based on which option receives majority support (50 per cent or more) received through this consultation.

Rotorua Lakes Council would like to know whether or not Ōkāreka and Mamaku residents would like a food organic and green organic (FOGO) waste collection service. Ōkāreka and Mamaku residents should have received a letter in the post or an email.

Have your say

Please indicate your preference

Before the new collection service starts in July 2026, Council wants to confirm the views of the Mamaku and Ōkāreka communities about whether they wish to have either:

  1. a weekly food and green waste collection and a fortnightly household rubbish collection; or
  2. want to retain the status quo of a weekly household rubbish collection with no organic food and green waste collection.

Council is asking Mamaku and Ōkāreka residents to indicate their preference, so final decisions can be made. Please indicate your preference, by completing the survey.

Further information on this project is available

Email Infrastructure.Environment@rotorualc.nz if you have any questions.

Council decision making post-consultation

Once feedback has been received, Council will make a final decision on the inclusion or exclusion of your community from the new FOGO collection service, based on which option receives majority support (50 per cent or more) received through this consultation.

  • What are the Options?

    The following options are being explored for the Mamaku and Ōkāreka communities:

    Option 1

    Option 2 (Status Quo)

    Food and green organic collection

    Weekly collection of 80-litre bin

    No FOGO kerbside collection

    Residual rubbish collection

    Fortnightly collection of 80-litre bin

    Weekly collection of 80-litre bin

    Fortnightly capacity

    240 litres

    160 litres

    Mamaku and Ōkāreka



    Estimated volumes to landfill

    91 tonnes

    227 tonnes

    Estimated volumes diverted from landfill

    136 tonnes

    0 tonnes

    Impact on waste targeted rate (per annum)

    $25.88

    $0

  • Background of this Project

    The amount of waste being produced in the Rotorua district has increased by 28 per cent during the past three years. At the same time, the cost of sending waste to landfill has increased due to central government landfill levies and changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme.

    Organic waste makes up more than 60 per cent of Rotorua’s household waste, which could be diverted from landfill. The average household in Rotorua creates about 350kg of organic waste every year, totalling about 10,000 tonnes per year across the district. This food and garden waste has the potential to be processed, to significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced from the district’s waste.

    In May/June 2022, Council consulted on various options to achieve this. Submissions favoured a mixed kerbside collection service of both food and garden green waste, ahead of four other options. The preferred option also included collection of general waste (red-lid bins) moving to a fortnightly schedule because the residual waste per household would decrease by about 60 per cent due to introducing FOGO collection.

    Council approved the introduction of a food organic and green organic waste collection service (FOGO) in July 2024 with a start date of 1 July 2026. Council had previously signalled its intention to introduce kerbside organic waste collection in the Long-term Plan 2021-24, and Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2022-2028.

    Across the district, community consultation in 2022 attracted 377 submissions with 89 per cent of respondents supporting an organics/green diversion option. However, it has been suggested that the Mamaku and Ōkāreka areas may not wish to be included in the new collection as residents have alternative methods of processing organic food and green waste such as composting.

Page last updated: 21 Nov 2024, 01:54 PM