Kew resident Adrienn Meintjes said since the Dunedin City Council switched from a rubbish bag collection system to a four-bin system, she had been unable to keep up with the amount of waste collected.
"It is absolutely ridiculous that the DCC has implemented a one-size-fits-all approach by providing every household with a 140-litre red bin for household rubbish, collected fortnightly.
"This policy clearly lacks consideration for the diverse range of households in our community.
"While a 140-litre bin may suffice for a one-to-two person household, it is woefully inadequate for larger households, particularly families with young children."
Ms Meintjes is a parent of two toddlers.
"I can attest that our bin is overflowing with dirty nappies and other household waste, leaving us with nowhere to dispose of our rubbish.
"This situation is not just inconvenient; it feels like the DCC is neglecting and even penalising larger families, especially those with young children."
Ms Meintjes said there had been a lot of discussion on social media about the issue.
"It is disheartening to see that the needs of families and mothers are being ignored.
"When I called the DCC to voice my concerns, I was met with indifference and was told that there is nothing that can be done — there are no larger red bins available and collections will remain fortnightly."
A DCC spokesman acknowledged Ms Meintjes’ concerns.
"We are less than three weeks into the new kerbside collection service.
"So far the reception has been positive with only a few teething issues as we roll it out. In the first two weeks, over 269 tonnes of food and green waste was collected at the same time 307 tonnes of waste was collected in the red-lidded bins.
"That suggests that residents of Ōtepoti Dunedin are successfully reducing the amount of recyclable material that previously would have gone to landfill by almost half."
The spokesman said the council consulted the Dunedin community about the kerbside changes back in in 2020.
"We received over 10,000 responses in the consultation — of which over 9500 were in support of changing the kerbside collection services in this way.
"We won’t supply a rubbish bin larger than 140-litre, or change to weekly collections, because our service aims to reduce waste going to landfill."
It was important that the public were carefully sorting their recycling and food and green waste into the correct bins so that there was more room for rubbish in the red-lidded bin.
"If residents are still not satisfied the new service meets their needs, we suggest they contact private waste collection providers."
