Several thousand Dunedin businesses will get a visit from the city council in the next six months, as staff ascertain which will have to pay more to dispose of their waste.
The visits are part of work to implement a new trade waste bylaw, which the council was required to review under the Local Government Act.
Under the bylaw, almost 4000 businesses, including dentists, hairdressers and beauty salons, may pay more for disposing their waste.
The intent of the change is to spread costs of treatment more equally across trade waste dischargers.
The cost is now paid by 23 larger businesses.
Cr Andrew Noone said this week a subcommittee had set up a process to review the bylaw over the next 12 months.
"We want to do the groundwork to determine who will be affected."
Within the next six months, the council would identify which of almost 4000 businesses would require a permit, and most would have to be visited, he said.
Once it was discovered which would be affected, a funding policy would be included in next year's annual plan.
No extra charges would be introduced until the 2009-10 financial year.
