SociaLink advocates for the wellbeing of our community sector — not just through direct support, but also by ensuring our voice is heard in local decision-making.
That’s why we recently made a formal submission to Tauranga City Council in response to its Draft Annual Plan 2025/26. We focused on one important, and often overlooked, issue: the proposed removal of charity waste disposal waivers for illegally dumped rubbish at charity shops.
For the oral submission, our CE attended, along with a representative from one of the organisations experiencing the reality of dealing with unwanted goods and rubbish, who provided some confronting images of the piles left at their door out of hours.
Why This Matters
Many local charities operate opportunity shops that serve as vital fundraising arms for their services — whether it’s food support, housing advocacy, counselling, or community connection. Unfortunately, these shops also bear the brunt of illegal dumping and unusable donations, which they are left to dispose of at their own cost.
Currently, Tauranga City Council provides a waste disposal waiver to approved charity shops. This waiver helps offset the cost of disposing rubbish that should never have been left with them in the first place.
However, in an effort to make budget savings, Council is considering cutting this waiver — a move that could save $100K, but at a significant cost to the organisations and people who can least afford it.
What We’re Hearing from the Community
We spoke with several local opportunity shops and their stories are consistent:
“People can’t afford to get rid of it themselves and we are a convenient place to dump it.”
“It can cost us up to $200 a time to take this stuff to the transfer station.”
“Even donated carloads can be 70% unusable — we can’t turn people away.”
“We’re subsidising Council’s rubbish problem, and the waiver doesn’t even cover all of it.”
This is not just an inconvenience — it’s an added cost in a sector already facing huge demand, staff burnout, and insecure funding.
Our Recommendation
We strongly urged Tauranga City Council to retain the charity shop waste disposal waiver. It is a small but meaningful way to support the essential mahi that for-purpose organisations are doing in our city every day.
In our view, this waiver is not a luxury — it’s a practical recognition of the role charities play in holding up our community. We also encouraged Council to look for additional solutions to reduce illegal dumping and improve waste management support for charities.
Where to From Here
We’ll continue to advocate for policies that strengthen the social and community sector, and we encourage others to do the same. If your organisation has experienced similar challenges, we’d love to hear from you — sharing these stories makes our collective voice stronger.
Thank you to all the for-purpose organisations doing the mahi. Your voice matters — and we’re proud to help make it heard.
Please read our full submission here: Submission on Tauranga City Council Annual Plan 2025-26
