See what can be recycled at your kerbside, Te Maunga Transfer Station, and through other community services.
Service update
From the 1 February, Tauranga residents will no longer be able to put any lids, caps or aerosol cans in your yellow-lidded recycling bins.
This is because the government has introduced standardised recycling for all kerbside collections across the country – to help make recycling consistent, regardless of where you are in New Zealand and to reduce unnecessary waste going to landfill.
At the kerbside
In your yellow-lid bin:
- clean paper and cardboard (no paper towels, tissues, or shredded paper)
- washed plastic bottles, trays and containers numbered one, two and five (may be written as 1 or 01, 2 or 02, and 5 or 05)
- washed food and drink cans and tins (metal and aluminium).
In your blue glass recycling bin:
- glass bottles and jars that have been rinsed and had lids removed.
Other glass like heatproof glass (broken Pyrex jug or mixing bowl), window glass, or lightbulbs cannot be recycled, and should be wrapped in newspaper and placed in your red-lid rubbish bin.
Photo: Bale of plastic number 2 milk bottles ready for recycling.
Photo: Daniel Hines/SunLive.
More kerbside recycling tips
At Te Maunga Transfer Station *
See location and opening hours.
Items accepted for free:
- Glass
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Cans (aluminium and steel)
- Plastics bottles, trays and containers #1, #2 and #5
- Household and car batteries
- Mobile phones with batteries (e.g. AA, AAA)
- Aerosol cans (empty) and Scrap metal
- Food and beverage cartons (e.g., Tetra Paks), cut completely open and rinsed
- E-waste - view list of accepted e-waste items
- Fire extinguishers (used or unused)
- Gas bottles
- Fluorescent light tubes
- Home appliances** (e.g. ovens, dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers)
- Oil (5 x 4 litre packs - up to 20 litres max).
- Hazardous substances or chemicals (e.g. pool, garden, household, solvents, etc.)
Note: Waste oil and hazardous substances are collected at the waste pit within the transfer station – separate to the recycling area. Please notify staff at weighbridge. If you bring the oil as part of a load containing waste, the whole load will be charged as waste. For larger quantities or commercial operations please contact Transpacific Technical Services or Waste Petroleum Combustion Ltd.
*Some items may not be accepted at the time of your visit due to market changes. Please phone ahead to check specific items by contacting the Transfer Station.
**Fridges and freezers are paid home appliance items as require degassing before recycling. View full list of transfer station fees and charges.
New food and beverage carton recycling service at Te Maunga Transfer Station
Photo: How to prepare your Used Beverage Cartons for recycling at Te Maunga Transfer Station.
Photo: New food and beverage carton recycling service at Te Maunga Transfer Station.
E-waste
We can recycle most types of E-waste at our transfer station free of charge. Items such as TVs, desktops, screens, laptops, printers, cameras, keyboards, mice, etc. can be dropped off in the special yellow E-waste bins in our recycling area.
There is also a local company: Computer Recyclers that can recycle E-waste and TechCollect are operating drop off points at participating Noel Leeming stores for the following items:
- Computers, laptops and tablets,
- Computer monitors (CRT and flat screen),
- Desktop printers, copiers, scanners & multifunction printers,
- Computer peripherals including mice, keyboards, cables and modems,
- Cameras and video cameras.
Find your nearest store. At this stage, they are unable to accept the following items: White goods, consumer electronics, mobile phones, loose batteries, toner and ink cartridges.
Please note the secure destruction of any data on your devices is your responsibility before dropping off for recycling at any location. To find out more on how to securely manage your personal data, read: Delete your data – TechCollect.
Other community recycling services
Soft plastics
Soft plastics (anything made of soft plastic that can be scrunched into a ball) can be dropped off at collection points across Tauranga in supermarkets and participating The Warehouse stores. Find your nearest location here.
Car seats
The SeatSmart programme has a collection site in Tauranga at Baby on the Move (435 Cameron Road, Ph: 07 575 7806), where you can take your old car seat to be recycled. The cost of recycling a seat is $10 incl GST. This will not only mean recyclable materials like metal and plastic don’t get wasted, it also helps employ people with disabilities as they use social enterprises to dismantle the seats. For more information visit www.seatsmart.co.nz or find us on Facebook.
Recycling in New Zealand
Learn more about what's really recyclable, and what needs to go to landfill.