Man alarmed by tracking device found in new Auckland rubbish bin

Tuesday, 10 April 2018

An Aucklander was alarmed to find a tracking device in the bottom of his newly issued Auckland Council rubbish bin.

Philip Mackle first came across the device when he washed out his new red and green bin which he requested from council for the North Shore's change from council rubbish bags to rubbish bins service which started on April 9.

Blue and orange pre-paid bin tags are currently used for rubbish collection but technology will do the job in the future.

The Forrest Hill resident was dismayed to find the device and removed it immediately, before contacting council for an explanation.

Mackle was aware of international and New Zealand examples of collectors monitoring rubbish disposal but did not want his rubbish tracked in this way.

Auckland Council's waste planning manager, Parul Sood, assured the public the council was not presently monitoring or tracking any rubbish bins, despite the presence of a radio frequency identification device (RFID) inside some North Shore rubbish bins.

Sood said the RFID tag came automatically fitted to the bins from council's supplier, but the devices were deactivated.

'These tags will initially be used for asset management purposes and are not collecting or storing any information on household waste collections,' Sood said.

RFID technology was used successfully overseas for rubbish collections and tracking bins, Sood said. But Auckland bin users could remove these tags, should they wish too.

Pre-paid bin tags are the way household waste was now paid for. However, in the future, the council planned to track household rubbish disposal via technology.

Under the approved Auckland Council Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, the council would be moving to RFID technology to enable an electronic Pay As You Throw rubbish collection service to be introduced in 2020.

More information on the new North Shore bin tag system can be found on makethemostofwaste.co.nz.