Getting your recycling right

On your recycling collection days, please make sure your wheelie bin is out on the kerb by 7am.

The Waipā District Council logo should be facing the road and be as close to the kerb as possible. Your wheelie bin should be at least one bin space away from all other wheelie bins or objects, such as trees or light poles, to allow the recycling truck to lift it safely. Our trucks use mechanical arms that need a bit of space to operate safely and cleanly (and not knock over other wheelie bins!).

If your whole street has been missed, please give us a call to let us know.

If it's just your bin, check for a sticker or a note in your letter box. You may have something in there that can’t be recycled, causing your bin to be left behind on purpose.

If you feel you have done everything correctly, and it should have been collected, please give us a call. All our trucks have GPS tracking so we will be able to see if they went down your street and collected other bins. If we can see the truck did pick up neighbouring bins, we cannot ask the contractor to return.

You’ll need to wait until your next recycling collection or take your recycling to your nearest transfer station and dispose of it there.

If you’ve recently built a new house, please contact us and request a wheelie bin service.

An invoice for the remaining number of complete months of recycling services will be sent to you for payment. This is a pro-rata calculation based on the full year charge. Once we receive payment, wheelie bins will be delivered to your property within 10 working days. Please wait until you are living in the property and can secure the bins upon delivery before contacting us. It is not advisable to leave wheelie bins in empty houses.

If your wheelie bin is too full and the lid can’t close completely, it will not be collected.

This is because when the truck lifts it up, recycling may fall out. Extra items placed next to or on top of the wheelie bin will also not be collected. If you have too much recycling to fit in your wheelie bin, try some of these tips:

• Break down or flatten your cardboard (or consider using it in your compost!)
• Take some recycling to your local transfer station, or hold it for your next collection
• Check you haven’t put a large hard plastic item in there

When rubbish or items that can’t be recycled are put into your wheelie bins, it can contaminate the whole load of recycling in the truck.

If these items pose a health and safety risk, then it costs a lot of time and money to shut down the sorting facility and deep clean everything before work can resume… and then there’s all the landfill fees. Because of this, we conduct bin audits of your recycling to help educate about what can – and can’t – be recycled. It also helps us to identify the problem areas so that we can design education and community engagement projects to turn those stats around.

For the most part, residents have been doing the right thing and placing the correct recycling into the right bins. Unfortunately, a small number of people are putting the wrong things into their recycling. We have found items such as soft plastics, shower heads, paint tins, glass jars with lids on, dirty recycling and even full bags of rubbish. While there may only be small quantities of contamination, they compromise other recycling and can lead to a whole truck load going to landfill. It doesn't take much contamination to cause a problem.

If you put anything in your yellow wheelie bins like fabric, food scraps, deck chairs, frying pans, or garden waste, this is considered general contamination. We will issue a warning suspension, which will be left underneath your bin lid. 

If you put anything in your yellow wheelie bins like medical or sanitary waste, electronics, paint, large scrap metal, timber, concrete, or animal waste, we consider this extreme contamination and your recycling service will be suspended immediately for a minimum of 3 months and the wheelie bin will remain on the property. You will receive a Suspension of Recycling Service letter from Council. 

But if you’re a great recycler, we want you to know that too! You’ll receive a THANKS sticker on your bin. Ka pai and keep up the good work!

Your wheelie bins don’t have to be full to be put out - we recommend you place them kerbside on your scheduled collection day even if its part full.

Those people unable to manage wheelie bins due to physical disabilities or impairments are able to apply for a free Council-funded assisted service. The assisted service will ensure wheelie bins are pushed to the kerbside for emptying and collection. They will be pushed back again once recycling has been collected. There is no charge for this extra help, but there are rules around who can access it. To find out more about the assisted recycling collection service and whether you are eligible, give us a call on 0800 WAIPA DC (0800 924 723).

If your recycling bins have gone missing or been damaged, there’s a couple of things you should do first.

Check with your neighbours to make sure they didn't accidentally take your bin, have a good look around your own section, and chat to everyone who lives there. If it still hasn’t turned up, give us a call to get a new one issued. Any replacement wheelie bins needed because of customer damage or loss will need to be requested and paid for by the property owner or property management company.

240L Mixed recycling wheelie bin: $86.00

140L Glass only wheelie bin: $75.00

This covers the manufacture, storage, delivery, onsite assembly, administration and updating of the serial number and chip identifier on Council and contractor systems.

If your bin has been damaged (run over, burnt etc.) the costs above also apply. The only time the cost is waived is if you see our recycling trucks doing the damage. Please note the exact time, licence plate, and any more details so we can check our GPS tracking and do an investigation.

The kerbside recycling service we provide throughout the district is paid for through your rates.

Metallic Sweeping Ltd are our current recycling providers and the service is available to residential properties subject to targeted rates.