Rubbish and recycling in Matamata-Piako

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:
If you would like to learn more about our new kerbside collections, click on the button below.
A message from our contractors...
25/09/23
Thank you for your support over the past month.
Our new team, bins and systems are in place, but you may have noticed some of our food waste and glass recycling collections are running behind schedule.
This is because we have designed and commissioned new trucks to pick up your food waste and glass recycling at the same time. It’s a NZ-first innovation which means fewer trucks on the road, less carbon emissions and a healthier environment.
Unfortunately, there has been a holdup with our truck supplier which means we don’t currently have all the collection vehicles we need.
We’re very disappointed that we have not been able to deliver the expected level of service we wanted to. Please accept our sincere apologies.
The full consignment of trucks is scheduled to be delivered over the next few weeks, meaning we’ll soon be collecting all your waste and recycling on time, every time.
For now, if your collections are running behind schedule, please leave your bins out and we’ll collect them the next day.
The team wants to thank you for your patience, understanding and continuing support of our drivers. It means a lot.
- The team at Waste Management, supported by Matamata Piako District Council
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 moreEverything you need to know about the new food scraps bin
Learn moreEverything you need to know about the recycling bin
Learn moreFind out more about bin delivery, new collection days and the new and improved kerbside collection service
Learn moreEverything you need to know about the glass crate
Learn moreWas your collection missed? Need a new bin? Let us know!
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.
Last Week
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.