Ōtepoti Dunedin has proven itself more than capable of adjusting to our new kerbside collection service and cutting back the amount of waste going to landfill.

A remarkable 7377 tonnes of food and garden waste was collected from the green-lidded food scraps and garden waste kerbside bins from July until the end of December 2024.

Previously, that material would have gone to waste and buried in the landfill, creating methane (a potent climate-changing gas) as it decomposed. It’s great to see residents use the new service so enthusiastically ensuring that material is composted and reused instead.

Unsurprisingly, summer growth has seen green-bin collection volumes rise significantly, putting pressure on our kerbside contractors. December was the biggest month with 1633 tonnes collected from green-lidded bins.

Contractors made changes to help with the demand. Red trucks that had completed their rubbish bin collection runs are sometimes sent out again to help with green-lidded bin collection. Food scraps and garden waste are still being recycled, not dumped at landfill, even if it is collected by a red truck. It’s another example of just how popular our enhanced service is.

Remember, the contents of the new green-lidded bins is composted and put back into the earth to help plants grow – so it’s super important to have zero contamination. Only put in food scraps, meat, bones, and seafood, garden waste, hair and animal fur. Never put any plastics, metals, paper or other household items in your green-lidded bin.

For more information on what goes in your bins, check out our website.