Whakatāne District Council has agreed to apply $250,000 of waste disposal levy funding to offset the cost of the household kerbside recycling service for ratepayers.

This reduces the amount that needs to be funded through rates, thereby reducing the proposed average rates increase for the coming year from 9.4 to 9.1 percent.

The waste disposal levy is a charge collected by central government on waste sent to landfill. The funding is distributed to support waste minimisation activities across Aotearoa New Zealand, with half the levy money distributed to territorial authorities and the other half managed by central government.

Waste and resource recovery manager Lisa Eve said using 30 percent of the annual waste levy funding towards household kerbside recycling was a balanced approach.

“Kerbside recycling is an important service that helps reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and supports our wider waste minimisation goals, so having the ability to partially fund the service with the waste levy and reduce the average rates increase is a welcomed choice given the financial pressure many families are experiencing at the moment.”

The remainder of the levy funding received will be allocated to reserves for future significant projects and for ongoing waste minimisation activities.