Rubbish & Recycling

COVID-19 - rubbish and recycling

• Urban households – please put your rubbish and recycling out as normal on your normal day. One truck will remove all material and take everything to landfill. We cannot process recycling at this time.
• Rural households – if you need to dispose of rubbish, please use an official green Council bag and leave roadside on an urban street. Bags can be purchased at the supermarkets which are open. IMPORTANT - Please visit our website here the recycling calendar to see what day is collected when so that you don’t leave your bag in the wrong street. We are also encouraging people to stockpile CLEAN recycling until things return to normal. This will minimise waste volumes in bags.
• We have plenty of bags in stock and the supermarkets have plenty of supply.
• The Tokoroa landfill and Putāruru Transfer Station (including the recycling drop off zone) are closed to the public. Only commercial operators will be permitted.
• Please we ask everyone to be mindful of rubbish volumes in these difficult times. Be respectful to the contractors who are managing our waste. Please be clean, neat and tidy.

CLEANING UP CONTAMINATED RECYCLING

NOTE: This campaign is on hold, but that doesn't mean you can't practice great recycling techniques!

Due to the high cost of disposing of contaminated recycling,Council’s contractor has been asked to be more vigilant regarding contaminated household crates.

This page contains information on what CAN and CAN’T be recycled in the South Waikato.

The same applies to our recycling drop-off zones.

From Monday 30 March, crates with the the following contamination issues will not be emptied. They will be stickered and an education flyer left in the mailbox to help residents improve their recycling efforts.

Causes of contamination:

• Contains NON-RECYCLABLE material. Examples of items that can’t be recycled, include: plastics 3-7*, polystyrene, fabric, soft plastic bags, dirty nappies, fastfood bags, (with or without leftovers), broken household items (chairs, buckets etc). Put these items in your rubbish. * only plastics 1 and 2 can be recycled
• Contains items that were dirty, UNRINSED or had food waste on it. Examples of these are unrinsed milk bottle containers, unwashed dog food cans, pizza boxes with food sticking to the cardboard, fastfood packaging that is greasy and has food scraps. Rinse items or if that is not possible, put them in your rubbish.
• The crate was too full, OVER-FLOWING.
• Crate was not placed at KERBSIDE.
• Crate contains potentially HAZARDOUS material.
• Contains LIDS/CAPS/TOPS which need to be removed. Put lids/caps/tops in your rubbish.
• Recycling was not in an OFFICIAL Council crate. Council’s contractor will only empty official Council crates.

Where is the plastic recycling symbol?

The plastic recycling symbol is usually on the bottom of the product. Only 1s and 2s can be recycled.

• Commonly used plastic items that ARE recyclable: Milk bottles, soft drink bottles, some plastic meat trays, some household products...
• Commonly used items that AREN’T recyclable: Yogurt pots, margarine containers, ice cream containers, some plastic meat trays, some condiment containers...

If you can’t see a recycling symbol or there is no number in the symbol, put the item in your rubbish. Sadly, Council has no control over the visibility of these symbols!

There are millions of products on the market. We cannot list them all!

Crate content changes!

We are asking our community to disregard the messages on the crates. Acceptable crate content is changing to prepare for our new wheelie bins! If you don't get this quite right and your recycling is not contaminated, we will still empty your crates. But it would be a great help if you could start to make these changes.

• Green crate - glass ONLY
• Maroon crate - plastic, tins, cans
• Cardboard and paper folded, bundles and stacked to the side of your crates.

Waste management facilities

Council owns and operates a landfill in Tokoroa and a transfer station in Putāruru. Greenwaste mulching takes place in Tokoroa. All of these sites are managed for Council by private operators in accordance with Council's Landfill Management Plans. For more information on landfills, please follow this link.

Council provides weekly refuse and fortnightly kerbside recyclable collection from urban areas paying for this service, in Arapuni, Putāruru, Tīrau and Tokoroa. For more on our recycling service, please follow this link or for the recycling calendar please click here.

Council also provides for litter collection in our CBD areas and parks and reserves.

For landfill fees follow this link here.

Frequently asked questions

Are other district councils in New Zealand still collecting these plastics?

We don't know, however our understanding is that most councils have stopped or are in the process of stopping collecting Plastics 3 - 7. Even if some councils are still collecting these at this point in time, they will likely end up landfilling at some stage. We believe it is best to appropriately sort at the kerbside.

Is this change permanent?

Likely yes, we will continue to keep an eye on world markets, but plastics are definitely a problem for our world going forward. Plastics are simply not sustainable.

What is the cost to Council to redirect collected plastics 3 - 7 to landfill?

It costs around $27,000 for Council to redirect collected plastics to landfill.

How do I know if a plastic product is recyclable or not?

Look for the recycling symbol on the product, usually on the bottom. If it has a number 1 or 2 in the middle, it is recyclable; if it has any other number, or no number, it is not. We know these

What is central government's responsibility around this?

Local government has advocated central government review its Packaging Accord to better manage plastics. Very little has been done to date in this area. It is possible that the current problem with plastics may force a review of the New Zealand Waste Strategy (2010) to include a range of actions that Government could take.

How can I find out more about going plastic free entirely?

Visit the Plastic Free July website here.

What are the common plastics 3 - 7 that are no longer recyclable?

See table above.

Can I recycle [product/brand]?

It is very difficult for staff to advise on individual products as different brands and products use different plastics. Please look for the recycling symbol. It is usually on the bottom of the container. If there is a 1 or 2 in the middle of the symbol, it can be recycled. Any other number or no number or if you can't read the number, please put in general waste. Do not put this in your crate or in the rural recycling station. Council has not control over the legibility of these numbers.

• Is GLAD cling wrap recyclable?

No, GLAD cling wrap is a soft plastic which many of the plastics 3 - 7 are. It cannot be recycled. Look for alternatives like Lilybee wrap or similar. They are more expensive, but they are reusable for up to a year. Visit these websites - Lilybee Wrap or Honeywrap or similar product website.

Similar wrap can be homemade too.

Does this apply to the recycling drop-off zones?

Yes. Signage has been installed to assist.

Does this affect other products?

No other product that is currently recycled in our district - glass, paper, cardboard, tins, aluminium cans - is affected by this change in markets.