Update on Rubbish Bin Tags

John Gillon from

From 1 March, North Shore residents will no longer need to attach a bin tag to their general rubbish bin. Rubbish collections are moving from being partially rates-funded to be fully-rates funded. The amount that you pay in your rates (or rent) will depend on the size of bin that you currently use.
Until 1 March, you should continue to use the usual tags, however I am hearing that many dairies are running out of tags. I've checked with Auckland Council, and they say that dairies and small retailers are no longer being supplied with tags, but supermarkets will continue to be supplied until February. They should be provided with enough tags to last until 1 March.

If you end up with too many tags after the new service starts, you will be able to take them to your local library for a refund up until the end of April.
There are pros and cons with the move to fully-rates funded collections:
➡️ The benefits are that we will no longer be paying more (on average) than other parts of Auckland for our general rubbish; we will no longer have to dash out to the dairy for a rubbish tag when we realise late at night that we've run out; there will be no more tag thefts; tags will no longer be going to landfill; there should be less trucks on the road as many private operators will stop collecting general rubbish.
➡️ The disbenefits are that there will be no financial incentive to reduce household rubbish; there will be an increase in the total cost for anyone who doesn't put rubbish out every week.

All of Auckland will move to rates-funded rubbish collection by September 2025. Currently some parts of Auckland already pay through their rates, some use the orange bags that we used to have, and other areas (including Rodney) don't have any council rubbish service.
Originally all of Auckland was going to move to paying for each rubbish collection, however it was found that there was no discernible difference between the amount of rubbish collected in rates-paying areas vs tag-paying areas.

Meanwhile, we are waiting on a decision on whether Auckland will be moving from weekly to fortnightly rubbish collections in 2026. This is something that I do not support due to the difficulties it will create for many people.