Data from Snap Send Solve, the app used to report issues to the city council, shows rubbish dumping, also known as fly-tipping, was the most reported issue last year.
Of the 69,233 reports made on the app, 11,801 were related to rubbish.
City council city streets maintenance manager Ged Clink said the cost to clean up rubbish across the city in 2025 was $1.147 million.
This was a $262,489 increase on the cost of removing rubbish in 2024, which was $884,549.
The latest data has renewed calls for a waiver system to be introduced, which would mean the public could clean up the rubbish and drop it off at the dump for free.
Harewood Ward city councillor Aaron Keown proposed the idea early last year, but said it had not been progressed.
"My system was as simple as see the rubbish on the side of the road, you take a picture and load it up,” Keown said.
"If someone abuses (the system), they just get blacklisted for doing it.”
A similar idea was put forward in 2022 by Riccarton Ward city councillor Tyla Harrison-Hunt.
"Easily, that’s Riccarton’s number one issue at the moment,” he said.
Harrison-Hunt would like Keown's idea included in the city council’s ongoing review of its waste management and minimisation plan.
One option could be a clean up crew, similar to Mayor Phil Mauger’s rapid response footpath repair crew, Harrison-Hunt said.
City council resource recovery manager Dr Alec McNeil said it will be considering new policies for litter and illegal dumping as part of the plan review. This is expected to go out for public feedback in the second half of the year.
“Operational matters that would support these new policies are still being discussed with council and any proposed changes to levels of service would be subject to public consultation,” McNeil said.
Clink said council contractors have focused on cleaning up rubbish as quickly as possible.
“Experience has demonstrated that fly-tipping, if left unchecked, will rapidly develop into a large and unsightly mountain of rubbish, affecting local residents and requiring larger trucks and labour charges to remove.
"The council continues to utilise mobile cameras in hot spot locations to record illegal fly-tipping activities, and community feedback on this approach has been very positive.
“We regularly note reductions in illegal fly-tipping at the sites where the cameras are located.”
TOP SNAP SEND SOLVE REPORTS
- Dumped rubbish: 11,801
- Graffiti on a fence, building or structure: 9425
- Water leak: 4912
- Overgrown vegetation: 3043
- Graffiti somewhere else: 1777
