A major shake-up of rubbish collection in a Canterbury district is being considered, including moving the red bin from weekly to fortnightly collection.

The Selwyn District Council is considering the change as part of its Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, which is now open for consultation, alongside compulsory organics bins for urban townships.

Council infrastructure and property executive director Tim Mason said most councils in Canterbury had fortnightly rubbish collections.

“We found that 55% of the red bin content is in fact food and garden waste, or material that could be recycled, so we want to encourage our residents to separate these valuable resources,” he said.

Mason also said only 44.5% of red bins are full, with 32.5% half full or less and 23% three-quarters full.

The council sent 13,950 tonnes of red-bin rubbish to landfill in the 2024/25 financial year — about 444kg per household — at a cost of about $1 million in landfill levies alone.

“That would fill 2000 buses each year. If we can divert half of that to composting or recycling, our emissions reduction would be significant, about the same carbon footprint as 10,000 car trips from Rolleston to Auckland and back.

“And of course, hundreds of thousands of dollars saved from landfill levies would help council to keep the rates more affordable.”

To compensate for moving to a fortnightly collection, the council is considering increasing the red-bin size from 80 litres to 140 litres.

Under the changes, the council is looking to increase the standard size of the red bin to 140l the same as Christchurch City Council. Photo: Supplied

The change would save households an estimated $10 to $72 a year. However, for the 16% of urban households that would be required to have a green organics bin, the savings could be wiped out by an estimated annual cost increase of $106 to $155.

Councillor Sophie McInnes, who is part of the council panel considering feedback, said it was important people considered how they used the current system and whether they could benefit from the proposed changes.

“It would be great for people to reflect on how they deal with waste at the moment and how they would like it to happen over the next five to 10 years.

“It is one thing to say we don’t want change, but it is actually what we are doing right, or is it just easy.”

Consultation runs until October 16, with the council to hear submissions on November 12 before making a decision on December 16.

If approved, any significant changes to kerbside collection would take effect from July 2029.

• To learn more and provide feedback on the draft plan head to: selwyn.govt.nz/wmmp