Christchurch councillors said shopping trolleys are frequently left abandoned on footpaths and in rivers, resulting in poor waste management and millions of dollars in costs to businesses.
Abandoned trolleys were typically reported through the Snap Send Solve app and then forwarded to the retailer responsible for the trolley to arrange collection.
According to Woolworths, it spends over $1.5 million annually across the country to manage abandoned trolleys.
Council staff dealt with reports of 6,313 abandoned shopping trolleys in Christchurch in the year up to last October. More than half of these numbers came from the country’s two largest supermarket chains – Woolworths New Zealand (2,238) and Foodstuffs-owned Pak’nSave and New World (1,652).
Councillors are set to review a staff report presenting both regulatory and non-regulatory solutions to tackle the issue, which may involve either amending an existing waste bylaw or partnering with Retail NZ through a memorandum of understanding.
This strategy would focus on joint efforts to implement preventive measures and ensure the collection and return of trolleys to stores.
Staff also explored options such as distance and time restrictions on trolley use, including coin deposit locks and wheel locks.
However, they noted that the coin system could be easily bypassed by inserting objects like keys into the slot, and individuals might continue pushing trolleys with locked wheels, potentially causing damage.
A spokesperson for Woolworths New Zealand stated that the company provides trolley collection services to help maintain clean streets.
“We want to keep our local communities tidy and trolley-free and ensure that we have enough trolleys available in our stores,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Foodstuffs said that the majority of customers behave responsibly by returning trolleys to their designated bays, and “only a small number are taken off-site.”
“We regularly patrol nearby streets to collect abandoned trolleys, and when members of the public report one, we aim to retrieve it as quickly as possible.”
“However, trolleys do occasionally go missing, and it’s always disappointing when they’re stolen or dumped. We encourage the public to report any misplaced or stolen trolleys so we can arrange prompt collection.”
Councillor Yani Johanson urged the council to adopt a similar strategy as Auckland Council, which included shopping trolleys in its waste management and minimisation bylaw back in 2019.
For Councillor Aaron Keown, supermarkets and other shopping areas should establish boundaries that trolleys cannot cross; otherwise, taking trolleys beyond these limits should be considered theft.
Councillor Sara Templeton explained that trolleys are sometimes left behind because people lack alternative means to transport their groceries home.
While Templeton agrees that shopping carts should be taken back after use, she objects to preventing people from taking trolleys off business premises.
“In Ōtautahi Christchurch we have 13% of adults who don’t have a driver’s licence. For many of them, being able to transport groceries home in another way is really valuable,” she said.