Rubbish and recycling collection

Rubbish

Leave rubbish out Monday, Wednesday and Friday after 4.30pm.

Note: Only use official council rubbish bags or official council stickers on black bags of 60 litres or less. Place bags together as close to the kerb as possible.

Cardboard

Leave flattened cardboard out on Wednesdays after 4.30pm as close to the kerb as possible.

If you have more than a 1m³ of cardboard, then please take that directly to Re:Sort yourself or arrange for cardboard collection service with a commercial provider.

There are no provisions for recycling collection in the inner city by Council - this must be arranged through a commercial provider.  However, there is no charge to take recycling to the Re:Sort Centre, 201 Kioreroa Road, Port Whangārei.

Rubbish

Please have your rubbish and recycling items at the kerbside before 7:30am on the day of collection.

Note: Only use official council rubbish bags or official council stickers on black bags of 60 litres or less. Place bags together as close to the kerb as possible.

Collection days 

Note: Some suburbs have collections across two days, for example Whau Valley. To check your collection day please enter your address in the Rubbish and Recycling Collections Days map below.

Rubbish and Recycling Collection Days GIS map

You can use an official Council rubbish bag or any other approved bag as long as it has an official rubbish sticker on it. Official bags and stickers are sold at most dairies, service stations and supermarkets.

Approved container statement(PDF, 58KB)

Non-official bags must be 65 litres or less (large kleensak or black trash sack for example). Oversized or garden bags, even if only partially filled, won't be collected.

Charges for rubbish collection bags

Charges for transfer stations and official rubbish bags for kerbside collection are set annually.

Rubbish disposal fees

Each residential household is entitled to two recycling bins:  one red bin and one blue bin.

What goes in which bin?

Blue bin

Blue bin is for clean, unbroken glass bottles and jars of any colour with lids removed.

Red bin

Red bin is for plastics 1, 2, and 5, and metal food and drinks cans. 

Paper and cardboard

Paper and cardboard should be kept separate from the other bins, flattened into a small pile, in a bag or flattened box.

Printable kerbside recycling guide(PDF, 693KB)

Where to get the bins?

Residential householders can get red and blue bins from the below locations:

• Te Iwitahi
• the Tarewa i-SITE
• Tikipunga Library
• Ruakākā Service Centre
• Kokopu Transfer Station
• Ngunguru Transfer Station
• Hikurangi Transfer Station
• Uretiti Transfer Station. 

Opening hours may vary.

Damaged or replacement bins for residential householders

If your bin is damaged, stolen or you have moved into a property where no bin has been left, you can pick up a new one.

Please don’t bring in your old broken bin to prove the need for a new one. If you are not able to visit in person, a friend or neighbour can pick one up for you.

You will need to let the team know why you need a new bin. If you need an extra bin (on top of the two you already have) it will cost $18.

You can recycle your old bins by taking them to a transfer station. You can use them for any other purpose or break them into smaller pieces and put them in your rubbish for kerbside collection.

Moving house

Your recycle bins belong to your property. If you move house, please leave it behind for the next occupants.

You can use our A to Z recycling and disposal guide to see what can be recycled. 

You can use our A to Z recycling and disposal guide to help with the reuse and safe disposal options for everyday products and household items that cannot be recycled, such as:

• takeaway coffee cups and lids
• broken glass
• liquid paper board cartons
• containers over four litres (4L). 

You can use our A to Z recycling and disposal guide to help with the reuse, recycling and safe disposal options for everyday products and household items, such as:

• e-waste
• light bulbs
• batteries
• soft plastics etc.

Glass is recycled in a plant at Auckland. The glass is then mixed with other raw materials and fed into a furnace where it is melted down to make bottles and jars.

Cardboard is sent to a mill in South Waikato for processing. This mill uses recycled cardboard and new wood fibres to make new cardboard.

Paper goes to an Auckland mill to be processed. This mill uses 100% recovered paper to make corrugated cardboard.

Tin cans and all plastics go to Auckland, where they are separated before being sent on for recycling.

Recyclable plastics 1, 2 and 5 depending on the type, are either processed here in New Zealand or sent to Australia and Southeast Asia to be made into just about anything, for example buckets, polyester fibre and wheelie bins. 

Clear PET (Plastic Grade 1) bottles and containers are processed in Wellington. These are recycled into food grade packaging.

White and coloured HDPE (Plastic Grade 2) like milk, bathroom and laundry bottles go to Auckland for reprocessing. 

Natural HDPE (Opaque milk bottles, Plastic Grade 2) is currently sent overseas for recycling and is reprocessed into plastic pallets which will be used in manufacturing of new products.

Plastic Grade 5 (Polypropylene) goes to Palmerston North where it is granulated and made into new products.

Aluminium is used to make new aerosol and drink cans overseas.

Steel is made into food cans, wire and building materials in Asia. 

So why does New Zealand export some recyclable materials?

Since New Zealand has a relatively small population, we don’t generate a lot of recyclable material, so there’s not as much demand for recycling processing facilities in this country.

Even though exporting our recyclables overseas means that they need to be transported further, it’s often a better environmental option than using raw materials.