If your recycling bin is broken, or you are in a new house, you can request a bin through our help centre here.

Place your bins on the kerbside from smallest to largest, from the direction the driver approaches. This helps the drivers see the bins, for example, food scrap bin first, then glass crate, and finally recycle bin. 

The wider apart that you can place the bins, the easier it is for the trucks to collect them. We suggest at least 30cm between each bin to avoid any accidental damage.

Also, please keep bins away from poles, fences, gates etc. so the truck arms can reach them easily.

If your bin is overflowing or the lid is not closing, then your bin will not be emptied.

Any excess can be taken to your local transfer station, and disposed of at no additional cost.

Every fortnight with your glass crate and food scraps bin.

The kerbside collection days are:

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

Use your calendar to see which weeks are recycling bin collection, or sign up to our handy Antenno reminders each week.

This may happen sometimes because the current trucks are equipped with different map 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).

If your bin, or whole street, gets missed then please use this form to notify us. As soon as we get these through, then we can notify the contractors and advise them to return and collect your bin.

• Clean plastic bottles and containers 1, 2 and 5 with all lids removed.
• Clean paper and cardboard (no tissue paper or paper towels).
• Clean tins and cans with lids removed or secured inside.

No, the aluminium used to make foil and the aluminium used in tins/cans are different and can not be recycled together. Aluminium foil needs to be put in your rubbish bin if you can not re-use it.

No, polystyrene is number 6 plastic so it cannot go in your recycling bin. We are aware of some collection points for polystyrene at Mitre 10 stores. To read more about that, click here.

No - there are a couple of reasons for this:

• lids are often made of a different type of plastic from the bottle/container
• thin lids (such as yoghurt or ice cream containers) fall through the gaps at the recycling centre and either contaminate paper/cardboard recycling or clog up the machines. 

Even if lids have their own recycling number they can not be put in your recycling bin. 

Your recycling is taken to a recycling plant where it is sorted by hand for contamination. Workers often come across contamination such as nappies and needles which is dangerous for them and costs ratepayers more to send to landfill as it has now been transferred and sorted.

Tins and cans are separated by magnet and plastic and paper/cardboard are separated through a tumbler system.

 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 whole point of this service is about reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfill – so we’re not sending any perfectly good bins to landfill.

The charges in your rates are to fund the collection and disposal of your waste – they are not for new bins.