Pongakawa has one final rural recycling drop-off this weekend.

Saturday, June 19, will see Western Bay of Plenty District Council's fortnightly mobile recycling drop off at Pongakawa BP finish up, after a successful 18 months of providing alternative recycling options for the more remote parts of the Eastern end of the District.

The trial started in November 2019, and the fortnightly drop-off has allowed council to test whether a rural recycle drop-off would be feasible in the future once Council's new kerbside rubbish and recycling collection service starts on July 1.

Council's deputy CEO and group manager infrastructure services, Gary Allis, says this fortnightly option has been extremely worthwhile and proved that an alternative drop-off diverted recyclables from landfill for those who currently did not receive a service in this part of the district.

He says the new kerbside collection service starting on July 1 will now give Maketu and Pukehina residents, and some of the surrounding areas, the opportunity to recycle at the kerb.

'We are still investigating the possibility of unmanned rural drop-off areas for this and other remote rural residents but have not decided on any sites yet. The feasibility of such drop-off sites still needs to be determined once we have the kerbside collections implemented.

'In the meantime the Te Puke Recycle Centre will remain open to provide a place for these remote residents to take their recycling to when they're in town. Council's Community recycle centres were initially started to cater for our residents that did not have access to private kerbside collections.”

Between November 2019 and May 2021, the fortnightly drop-off has seen an average of 75 vehicles each morning it operated with the following total recyclables collected (in kilograms):

Similarly the glass collection service that was provided to Omokoroa residents will be removed from the FreshChoice supermarket in Omokoroa at the end of June 2021.

Omokoroa will receive a kerbside glass collection when the service starts.

Gary says both these recycling collection initiatives were implemented to encourage diversion of recyclables from landfill, especially glass, for communities that did not have easy access to the three community recycle centres and are funded through the Waste Minimisation Levy.