New rubbish charge

Press, 23 April 1980, Page 6

New rubbish charge

It A new category of commercial dumping charge will be recommended by the Metropolitan Refuse- Disposal Committee to cover skip trucks.

* The committee yesterday accepted that the scale of Higher charges recommended its constiuent local bodies previously contained an anomaly and agreed to a counter-proposal . from rubbish contractors.

Under the proposal, the tip charge for trucks carrying a skip, or bin, load of rubbish would be increased from $4 to $B.

The committee rejected the contractors’ suggestion that private dumping charges be raised from 50 cents to $1 for cars and from $1.50 to $2 for cars with trailers. The decision followed meetings between committee

representatives and the contractors. . >

The contractors had pointed out that the weight of rubbish in a skip was relaively light in relatioh to the heavy weight of the truck carrying it, said a committee engineer (Mr. A. J, W. Lamb). Such trucks would fall into the two-tonne to five-tonne bracket, for which the new tipping charge recommended by the committee was $l6. That meant the charge for dumping a skip of rubbish would effectively rise 300 per cent, from $4 to $l6, said Mr Lamb.

Cr N. Dodge, of Christchurch City said he was pleased this had been pointed out. He undertook to recommend to the council the new commercial tipping rate for the Bexley Dump, for which the charges were increased from April 1.

The committee’s chairman (Mr J. M. McKenzie) said the contractors had accepted there would be a general increase in charges of 100 per cent. A large volume of rubbish was .being dumped through the skip system, he said.

Answering a question from Cr I. G. Clark, Mr McKenzie said the contractors did not discuss weight differences between wet and dry rubbish.

The scale of new charges, on the basis of truck weight previously proposed remains: up to two tonnes ($8), two to five tonnes ($l6) and over five tonnes ($24). The Waimairi and Heathcote County Councils have been waiting for the Metropolitan Refuse Committee’s final decision before making adjustments to their tip charges.