Auckland's general waste is collected every week. Photo: Stuff / Ricky Wilson
Auckland will trial a fortnightly general waste rubbish collection for 10,000 households for seven months, costing up to $1.7 million.
The decision was reached at a Planning and Policy Committee meeting on Thursday - where 14 councillors voted for, and four against.
The trial was one of three options for councillors to decide on, with the other two being to proceed with moving to a fortnightly rubbish collection or the retention the weekly collection.
According to discussion documents, the trial was estimated to cost between $1.4m and $1.7m to run, based on 10,000 households (covering two to three geographical areas of between 3000-4000 households).
The location and size of where the trial would be implemented was yet to be determined, however south Auckland councillors Alf Filipaina, Lotu Fuli and Angela Dalton all volunteered their wards.
Council staff recommended a consultation with affected households to begin in October-November 2025, and the trial to start from February 2026 till August 2026.
But first, the Policy and Planning Committee would need to decide in December 2025 on whether to initiate it.
During the debate, Manukau councillor Lotu Fuli said the change of rubbish collection was not an easy decision to be made.
"In principle, I am really supportive of where we are trying to go, I am supportive of the aspirations here and I'm supportive of the end goal of trying to reach zero waste or closest to zero waste," she said.
"But I am also mindful that we have to take our community with us on this journey, I'm really mindful that this is a very complex issue - we're trying to change cultural norms, we're trying to change behaviour, we're trying to ask our community for quite a big transformational cultural shift.
"That takes time and it's not easy."
The trial would inform a future decision on a regional roll out of a fortnightly rubbish collection service.
An assessment of the trial would be carried out in September 2026, before a decision on a regional fortnightly rubbish collection from 2028.
The four councillors against the trial were Waitematā and Gulf ward's Mike Lee, Ken Turner from Waitākere, Howick's Maurice Williamson and Manurewa-Papakura's Daniel Newman.
"I am astonished frankly that despite a clear majority of submissions opposed to a move from a weekly service, and without the clear agreement from any community that they will participate in a trial, the majority of the council are embarking on an experiment," Newman said in a statement.
He said there was not a single community of Aucklanders where the majority wanted to move to a fortnightly collection service.
During the consultation process, 12 local boards were unsupportive of the change, while five boards did not support for specific areas or without further measures being in place.
Three boards did not state a position and only one board supported the proposal.
"This decision is beyond shocking, and I have no doubt that it will see even less Aucklanders supporting this council. This decision will offend Aucklanders, and it will garner community opposition, not support," Newman said.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.