More recycling and rubbish bins will be installed around the country in time for summer, with the accepted standard colour codes.

The bins will be installed in Whakatane, as well as Clutha, Dunedin, Mackenzie District and New Plymouth.

This follows the successful implementation of the technology in Tauranga, Rotorua, Marlborough, Queenstown Lakes and Wellington this year as part of a campaign to encourage Kiwis to ‘put litter in its place'.

The campaign has been developed by The Packaging Forum, which promotes recycling under the government's Love NZ brand, and The Auckland Litter Prevention Steering Group, which manages the Be a Tidy Kiwi brand.

It is also supported by many councils around the country, plus New Zealand Transport Agency and KiwiRail.

'In the past, bins have been designed to be part of the streetscape and blend in, when what we have needed are eye-catching bins that use the recycling and waste colours which have been agreed nationally,” says Richard Leckinger, Program Manager for Be a Tidy Kiwi.

'As well as introducing standard colours, pilot regions have also chosen signage including Chinese, Korean, Hindi and Japanese as well as English and te reo.

'Our technology partner EYEfi has further enhanced the smart units which provide an alert system to the collector so that they are emptied on demand not on a schedule. We're very excited by the potential for this technology.”

The $2.4 million project has received $1.72 million funding from the government's Waste Minimisation Fund, with a national advertising and consumer awareness campaign.