Food Scraps Collection
Auckland Council wants to divert thousands of tonnes of rukenga kai (food scraps) away from landfill and into something good every year. Rukenga kai will be turned into clean energy and liquid fertiliser.
We want to keep everyone's food scraps out of the rubbish. The best option is to compost at home or at your local Compost Hub. A convenient alternative is to put your food scraps into the Auckland Council bin and they will collect it weekly.
How does it work
Since 2023 Aucklanders have been having a whole new way to turn their rukenga kai (food scraps) into something good. Residents can make better use of their food scraps by placing them in no-fuss kitchen caddies and kerbside bins, ready for collection. Like your other bins, your 23-litre rukenga kai are picked up each week. The food scraps inside are then turned into clean energy and fertiliser to grow more kai.
Let’s support the collection
This is an essential new service designed to drastically reduce more than 110kg of food waste going to landfill from every Aucklander, every year. It’s part of council’s zero waste strategy and, as an organisation that is always passionate about protecting our whenua, Kaipātiki Project is thrilled to partner on this great cause.
Most people care about our environment but many haven’t been able to compost – if this is you, know that by simply using rukenga kai each week, you’ll be on your way to helping remove some 125,000 tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere each year.
If you already compost or Bokashi then this is a smart addition to the good mahi you’re doing. If you support our Love Food Hate Waste principles you’ll find this fits right into that ethos too.
Educating others. Food Scraps Grant available
Getting in and behind this new service is all about protecting our environment right now, and for future generations. If you’d like to join in and educate people you know, then consider applying for the Food Scraps Grant.
We’re looking for community groups and rukenga kai ambassadors to spread the word. Through the available Food Scraps Grant, we can send someone along to your get-together to speak and teach, totally free of charge. Or, you can fund a food scraps hui of your own design. Check out the regional grant here.
Reducing emissions
Food scraps will be collected by trucks that are already in Auckland and ready to return to the Waikato (otherwise empty), where rukenga kai will be converted to clean energy and fertiliser.
Complement with compost
For those who can, composting is a great way to increase your positive impact on our whenua. There are food scraps that can’t go into your compost and, now, you’ll be able to put them into your food scraps bin for collection on bin day.
Extra resources
Here are some easy-to-follow welcome pack items to use and share with others.
Download the welcome pack brochure
There are plenty of eco-friendly ways you can dispose of your food scraps. Here's a quick guide:
