{
  "id": 4901852,
  "title": "Christchurch City Council's attempt to create abandoned shopping trolley map fails",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/christchurch-city-councils-attempt-to-create-abandoned-shopping",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-01T17:18:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "RNZ Business",
    "slug": "rnz-business",
    "url": "https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/regions_canterbury/1215983/christchurch-city-council-s-attempt-to-create-abandoned-shopping-trolley-map-fails"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Christchurch City Council's effort to produce a map identifying locations with a high concentration of abandoned shopping trolleys has come to a halt due to the council's inability to acquire data from retailers regarding the dumping sites. In May of the previous year, council members requested staff to explore solutions for dealing with the issue of abandoned trolleys following a report that revealed 6,313 trolleys were left behind between October 2024 and October 2025. Retailers reportedly incur an average cost of $300 per trolley, though they can reach up to $700 each, with Woolworths alone spending over $1.5 million annually on abandoned trolleys nationwide.\n\nOne proposed solution was to develop a heat map highlighting areas with frequent trolley abandonment and comparing these locations with bus routes. The report, which was intended for presentation to the entire council, stated that staff were unable to generate the requested heat map due to the retailers' refusal to share the data. The information gathered by Send Snap Solve, an application that logs maintenance issues such as discarded rubbish, graffiti, and abandoned trolleys, is owned by the retailers and cannot be provided to the council.\n\nRetail NZ, an organization representing retailers, generally believes they already have adequate systems in place for handling trolley retrieval and is not inclined to reach an agreement with the council on best practices for trolley recovery. Furthermore, retailers object to the term \"abandoned trolleys\" as they are often stolen rather than simply left behind. The report suggested that council staff should collaborate with Retail NZ to explore the possibility of a public awareness campaign aimed at encouraging individuals to report abandoned trolleys. Additionally, the report proposed incorporating trolleys into an upcoming council initiative addressing illegal dumping. However, Denise Garland, Retail NZ's advocacy manager, emphasized that stolen shopping trolleys represent a significant and costly problem for retailers across the country. She stated that most retailers manage to retrieve dumped trolleys within 24 to 48 hours of being notified, highlighting the importance of reporting stolen trolleys. According to Garland, Retail NZ would support a public awareness campaign in partnership with the council to promote the reporting of stolen trolleys.",
  "summary": "Retailers generally felt they already had sufficient systems to manage trolley retrieval and weren't keen to work with the council on best-practice trolley recovery.",
  "key_points": [
    "Christchurch City Council's abandoned trolley map project halted",
    "Retailers refuse to share data on trolley dumping sites",
    "Retail NZ opposes public awareness campaign for reporting trolleys"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}