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Rubbish and recycling in Matamata-Piako

Ready, Steady, Go start using your new bins from this week

The new kerbside collection service is underway! We are no longer collecting rubbish and recycling from commercial areas and will be improving kerbside collections for residential areas. 

Every household (excluding those in commercial areas) will have:

  • a 120L red wheelie bin for rubbish, collected fortnightly
  • a 25L green food scraps bin, collected weekly
  • a 240L yellow wheelie bin for recycling, collected fortnightly
  • a 45L blue glass crate, collected fortnightly

The new kerbside collection days are:

  • Matamata (incl. Waharoa and Walton): Tuesday
  • Morrinsville (incl. Tahuna): Wednesday 
  • Te Aroha (incl. Waitoa and Waihou): Thursday

The changes to the kerbside collection service is a massive logistical change affecting over 10,000 properties. A project this big will always have some bumps and issues, and we're here to try and help get those issues sorted. Please be kind to our teams while we're trying to help.

If you want to register a missed collection, or need a new bin, click here:

Kerbside Help Centre

If you would like to learn more about our new kerbside collections, click on the button below.

Kerbside Collection Changes

Click on the tiles below to discover more about the individual bins and how to use them:

Everything you need to know about the new rubbish bin

Learn more

Everything you need to know about the new food scraps bin

Learn more

Everything you need to know about the recycling bin

Learn more

Find out more about bin delivery, new collection days and the new and improved kerbside collection service

Learn more

Everything you need to know about the glass crate

Learn more

Was your collection missed? Need a new bin? Let us know!

Find out more

Latest Updates

27/09/2023

  • Morrinsville - Your glass and food scrap bin collection should be completed today, however recycling bin collection will continue tomorrow. Please leave out your bins and the contractors will come around to collect them on Thursday, 28 Sep. We apologise for any disruption this may cause, thank you.

26/09/2023

  • Matamata - We are aware that not all bins have been collected today, apologies for the inconvenience. Please leave out your bins and the contractors will come around to collect them tomorrow, 27 Sep. We appreciate your understanding at this time, thank you.
  • Did you used to get rubbish and recycling reminders on Antenno, but haven’t been getting them since the changeover? Try uninstalling and reinstalling the app, and then make sure that you add your specific address. If you input only a town’s name, then you won’t get all of the notifications we send, including rubbish reminders.

22/09/2023

  • Please note - all collections have now been completed for the week. If your bins haven't been collected please let us know here.
  • Te Aroha - The Waihou Tranfer Station have received their new recycling bins and they are open to the public! Open Wed, Fri, and Sun at 4277 State Highway 26, Waihou, 07 884 8831.

21/09/2023

  • Te Aroha - We are aware that there is a delay in collections today. Apologies for the inconvenience. Please leave out your bins and the contractors will come around to collect them tomorrow, 22 Sep. We appreciate your understanding at this time, thank you.
  • You may have noticed that food scrap bins have been getting emptied and left upside-down. This was so that the contractors could see at a glance which streets had been cleared. We have heard you saying  that this is not ideal, and so they will now return the bins standing up.
  • Some of you have asked why the contractors are lifting the bins into the truck. There are major supply issues with getting trucks and the rubbish trucks have been on order for over a year, but we still don’t have the full fleet yet. The trucks are being supported by additional waste management trucks, including a rear loader. This truck is still doing the lifting and tipping – it just does it differently to the side loading trucks, and requires the crew to move the bin in to place and then back to the kerb.  Once we have our full fleet in place, you might still see the rear loader being used sometimes e.g. in small/narrow streets.
  • We are aware that there is an issue with streets getting missed during collection. Part of the problem with not having the full truck fleet yet is that the current trucks are equipped with different mapping technology. When they use different systems, it’s hard to get a complete picture of which streets have been missed. We know this is a problem and are actively working on a solution to improve this in the meantime (until the new trucks arrive).
  • You may have noticed that some of the recycling bins look pre-loved. If you receive a bin that is scuffed or scraped, it might be a second hand one. All the second hand bins have been given a once over, and any that were damaged have been removed from circulation, and the good ones are being re-used. The point of this service is about reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfill – so we’re not sending perfectly good bins to landfill! 

20/09/2023

  • Morrinsville - We are aware that there is a delay in collections today. Apologies for the inconvenience. Please leave out your bins and the contractors will come around to collect them tomorrow, 21 Sep. We appreciate your understanding at this time, thank you.

19/09/2023

  • Our team are out this week delivering the new rubbish bins to anyone who was missed in the first delivery. Apologies that this is taking longer than expected, there has been a delay due to supply issues, and we are working hard to get them all out as soon as possible.
  • If you are still missing your food scrap bin, we are getting more delivered within the next couple of weeks. Our team will be delivering them to anyone who has advised us that they are missing. In the meantime, you could keep your scraps in the freezer, or use the red rubbish bin if necessary.
  • This week is Rubbish Bin and Food Scrap week. If possible, please put them out in order from smallest to largest e.g. green bin first on the left, red bin second on the right (if looking from the road). The further apart you can put these bins (at least 30cm), the easier it is for the trucks to collect them - and please remember to put your food scrap bin handle up!
  • Did you used to get rubbish and recycling reminders on Antenno, but haven’t been getting them since the changeover? Try uninstalling and reinstalling the app, and then make sure that you add your specific address. If you input only a town’s name, then you won’t get all the notifications we send, including rubbish reminders. If that doesn’t solve your issue, then give us a call and we’ll update the map to make sure you’ve been included. 
  • If you have a business, and still need your old recycle bins collected, then please contact us on 0800 746 467 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to let us know and we will be in touch to arrange a time to pick them up.
  • If your bin is only getting partially emptied, then it may be over-stuffed. The bins get tipped completely upside-down, so for rubbish to get stuck at the bottom it would have to be pushed tightly against the bin walls. Please put rubbish in the red bins loosely, to ensure that they get emptied completely. If you find that your food scraps are sticking, try putting some leaves, or a little bit of water in the bottom of your food scrap bin to loosen things up.

General information

Matamata-Piako District Council currently has a weekly rubbish and recycling collection service for 9,250 households and businesses in the district. If you are unsure whether the collection includes your property, phone Customer Services on 0800 746 467. 

Your current rubbish and recycling collection includes:

  • A 25L Green Food Scrap Bin – collected weekly
  • A 120L Red Rubbish Bin – collected fortnightly
  • A 240L Yellow Recycling Bin - collected fortnightly
  • A 45L Blue Glass Crate - collected fortnightly

Collection days

Kerbside collections currently happen on the following days in our district:

  • Matamata (incl. Waharoa, Walton, and Tamihana): Tuesday
  • Morrinsville (incl. Mangateparu, and Tahuna): Wednesday
  • Te Aroha (incl. Waitoa and Waihou): Thursday

When there is a long weekend/public holiday kerbside collections change. We notify you of these changes through our website, email and through the Antenno App. If you would like to receive notifications straight to your phone about kerbside collections each week, you can find out more information here

Transfer stations

Transfer stations are open from 10am to 4pm on selected days:

Matamata - 220b Tauranga Rd, 07 888 5700; Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun. 

Morrinsville - 168b Roache Rd, 07 889 3401; Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun.

Te Aroha - 4277 State Highway 26, Waihou, 07 884 8831; Wed, Fri & Sun

All transfer stations are closed on Good Friday, Anzac Day (from 1pm on ANZAC Day), Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day and 2 January. To receive notifications on all your collection dates, including changes due to public holidays, download the Antenno App from Google Play or the App Store. 

Kerbside collection requirements

How to make sure your rubbish is always able to be collected:

To help with the rubbish collection and ensure your rubbish and recycling is picked up, please:

  • Place bags and bins on kerbside by 7.30am on your collection day, ensuring they can be easily seen from the road.
  • Place your bin at least half a metre from other objects (this is so the wheelie bin truck can empty it).
  • Make sure you use only official Matamata-Piako District Council bins - old MPDC rubbish bags can be taken to the transfer station for no additional charge until 31 August 2024.
  • Make sure your wheelie bin lid is closed and latched (if you have a latch attached).
  • Do not put out any broken glass in your glass crate.

E-waste/batteries

We are currently working on getting battery and e-waste collection points at our transfer stations and will let you know when those are available.

For those who travel out of town, there are some services running in our neighbouring main centres including Recycle It and Tech Collect. At a local level, Mitre 10 accept lightbulbs and pot plant containers while car batteries and domestic quantities (up to 10 litres) of hazardous waste and oil can be disposed of at our transfer stations for a nominal fee.

Please do not put any of these items in your recycling bin or refuse bags/bins as they can and do cause fires within the collection trucks as the materials are compacted. If you are unable to store these items prior to taking them to the correct recycler we would prefer these are taken directly to our refuse transfer stations.