Got any rubbish opinions? We want to hear them
Published on 20 October 2026
Whanganui District Council is inviting residents to talk rubbish, recycling and the future of waste services – with public consultation on its draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2027-2033 open from now until Thursday 12 November.
The draft Waste Plan proposes a range of actions to reduce waste going to landfill, improve recycling and resource recovery, and make waste services more efficient and accessible across the district.
Whanganui currently sends around 35,700 tonnes of waste to landfill each year, equivalent to 724kg per person. That's significantly higher than the national average (530kg).
The council is proposing four key actions in the Plan.
- Kerbside rubbish and food/garden waste collections: Investigating a council-provided rubbish collection alongside a separate collection for food and garden waste.
- Improvements to the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre: Planning for the centre's future, including better facilities for recovering and reusing materials, particularly construction and demolition waste.
- Rural waste services and recycling access: Reviewing rural waste services to improve convenience, recycling opportunities and access for households outside the kerbside collection area.
- Helping businesses and event organisers reduce waste: Providing more practical support, including better recycling options and opportunities to reduce waste from commercial activities and events.
The council’s Strategy and Policy Committee Chair, Councillor Glenda Brown, says councils are required, by law, to formally review their district’s Waste Plan at least once every six years.
“This consultation is an important opportunity for our community to tell us if we’ve got our priorities right, what actions people think should happen sooner or later, and whether there's anything we've missed.”
The draft plan builds on feedback gathered through community and sector engagement earlier this year. It also includes supporting actions covering waste education, illegal dumping, reuse and repair, historic landfills and protecting the environment.
Cr Brown says many of the proposed actions involve further investigation rather than immediate changes to services.
"Whanganui is one of the few districts in New Zealand without a council-provided rubbish collection. Several private operators currently collect rubbish, with multiple trucks often travelling the same streets.
"Having one coordinated collection could reduce costs and emissions by avoiding unnecessary truck trips. While people would pay for the service through their rates, it’s likely many households would end up paying less overall than they currently do for private rubbish collections."
The council is also revisiting food waste collections. A previous proposal was cancelled in 2025 after central government removed its requirement for councils to introduce the service, and community concerns were raised about costs.
Waste Services manager, Morgan Harrison, says unfortunately, the problem hasn’t gone away – with food and garden waste still making up nearly half of what goes in our household rubbish bins.
“Sending organic material to landfill continues to be very expensive, for both the environment (in terms of methane emissions) and our wallets. This stuff can be composted and reused, so putting it in our rubbish bins doesn’t make economic or environmental sense.”
Harrison says this time the council are proposing to include garden waste alongside food waste, making the service more useful and likely diverting much more waste from landfill.
"We also want to plan for the future of the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre and recover more materials that currently end up in landfill, especially construction waste.”
No decisions have been made on these services or improvements. Community feedback will help determine what should be prioritised and investigated further.
Making a submission
The council has developed a new online consultation page where people can explore the proposals, read the supporting information and give feedback on the areas that matter to them.
Residents can indicate their level of support for each proposal, identify their highest priority and suggest changes or alternatives. They can also comment on any other part of the draft plan.
Paper submission forms are available at council libraries and the council office.
Consultation on the draft Waste Management & Minimisation Plan closes Thursday 12 November 2026.
To read the draft Waste Plan and have your say, visit whanganui.govt.nz/wasteplan
ENDS