Nelson’s expensive rubbish

Getting rid of household waste in ‘blue bags’ has almost doubled in price since 2018, despite operators saying they are doing their best to keep prices down.

The cost of the 65L blue rubbish bags used for kerbside collection currently cost about $5.00 each, whereas in November 2018 they were as low as $2.85 per bag.

Rubbish collection in Nelson operates on a user-pays system provided by commercial operator Smart Environmental, which took over the service from Nelmac in February this year.

It is not ratepayer-funded, so Nelson City Council does not set the price of rubbish bags.

Tim Hodgson, Upper South Island area manager for Smart Environmental, says the main driver for the bag prices going up is the increasing dump fees.

Council’s dump fees went up by 15 per cent this year, due to the changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme and increased national waste disposal levies.

Fees and charges at the York Valley Landfill increased from $178/tonne to $204/tonne on 1 July.

“Public and private are all hurting and we are doing our best to keep prices down,” Tim says.

Rising plant and fuel prices and increasing fleets also come into play.

“We are facing some challenging economic times - it is very challenging for everyone.”

Council’s group manager infrastructure, Alec Louverdis, says the council has not seen an increase in fly-tipping due to the rising dumping costs.

The cost of a single 65L blue rubbish bag is creeping close to $5.00 in Nelson from supermarkets, with the most expensive being $5.50 from the dairy.

Buying a multi-pack is the most cost-effective method of purchasing them, or people can also look at bin options.

A four-pack now costs as much as $19 - in 2018 they averaged at $10 and were as cheap as $8.50 a pack if purchased from the council.

However, council has stopped selling them.

“Council stopped selling the bags at the customer service centre in March to ensure equal treatment of locally operating private companies,” says Alec.

He says Smart Environmental will continue to collect any older Nelmac-branded blue bags for the next three years.

Local Countdown supermarkets took the bags off the shelves and put them behind the counter a few years ago due to the large number of thefts.

“We keep these bags behind the checkout area and have done so for around three years,” says a spokesperson.

Can Plan also offer bins and a pre-pay rubbish bag service, with a four-pack of 65L bags currently costing $18.40 at Fresh Choice, $17.95 at Countdown and $18 from the Can Plan website.

Tim says the most cost-effective way for people to save money on rubbish disposal is to get rid of their waste wisely.

“Recycle and reuse as much as you can.”

BLUE RUBBISH BAG PRICES

Fresh Choice: $4.80 single/$19.00 four-pack

Countdown: $4.80 single/$18.95 four-pack

New World: $4.79 single/$18.49 four-pack

Dairy: $5.50 single

Directly from Better-Bins: $75.68 for a 16-pack ($4.73 each)