Waimate residents may lose their wheelie bins to reduce the amount of rubbish they dump and encourage more recycling.
Those who do not recycle and dump more rubbish will pay more, with the district's resource recovery park continuing to operate as it does now.
The Waimate District Council on Tuesday will consider changing its waste management system, but before making any final decisions will ask residents what they want.
The major proposed change is the doing away with of wheelie bins and replacing them with smaller bags for weekly collection.
At present, urban residents can choose between a 240-litre wheelie bin or an official bag.
Waimate township residents are also supplied with a 60-litre recycling crate.
However, district council solid waste manager Brian Purcell said many urban residents chose the larger wheelie bin, avoiding recycling or composting.
"To achieve greater diversion from landfill, it is necessary to alter the collection system to change behaviour," Mr Purcell said.
The existing system, introduced in 2005, had reduced the amount of rubbish going into the landfill by about 20%, but a greater reduction was needed.
It had also become expensive.
Rural residents have a 240-litre wheelie bin, collected weekly, and six drop-off sites throughout the district.
The new proposal would see the council withdraw the wheelie bins from urban and rural areas.
Ratepayers would instead pay a base collection rate and be issued with plastic rubbish bags - possibly 26 for the year.
If they needed additional bags, they would be sold "at a substantially higher price" in order to encourage waste reduction, re-use and recycling.
The recycling collection in Waimate township using the 60-litre bin would continue, but could be extended to commercial properties on a voluntary basis.
"The strong financial incentive to recycle would be provided by the pay-per-bag refuse collection," Mr Purcell said.
Privately-run, user-pays services using the withdrawn wheelie bins would collect green waste, which was highly seasonal.
That service would be flexible and tailored to individual needs.
The Waimate council had been considering changes to its waste management system and tied itself in with plans by the Waitaki District Council, including a joint tender process.
However, the Waitaki council withdrew the tender process and is again considering its options.
That left Waimate to come up with its own proposal.
Waimate's rubbish
• Present system: Urban areas, optional 240-litre wheelie bin or bags. Waimate township, 60-litre recycle crate. Rural areas, 240-litre wheelie bin, six drop off points. Commercial, wheelie bins.
• Proposed system: Wheelie bins withdrawn. 26 rubbish bags a year, extra bought by ratepayer at substantially higher price. Waimate township, recycle crate continues. Commercial, voluntary recycling using crate. Green waste collection by private contractor using wheelie bins.
• Aim: Greater user pays, encouraging more recycling, re-use and composting to reduce waste to landfill.
