Looking for ways to keep resources out of landfill? Download our alternatives to landfill pocket guide (pdf 2.9 MB)(external link).
As well as the options listed below, here are some other top tips:
Plastic plant and seedling containers can be taken back to Bunnings or Mitre 10 Mega.
Weka Peckers Recycling at the Mariri Resource Recovery Centre at Motueka will collect aluminium and non-magnetic lids and cans, clean plastic lids marked number 2 or 5, liquid cartons like juice and milk cartons and clean steel lids like beer bottle tops and jam jar lids.
Many plastics and other materials used on farms and vineyards can be recycled.
Some of the materials and chemicals that are routinely used on our farms may be hazardous or contain hazardous chemicals. When these products are no longer needed it is necessary that they are disposed of in an appropriate manner to ensure that the environment is not contaminated and that there is no risk to people’s health.
Agrecovery offers solutions for the safe disposal of unwanted agrichemicals, and the recycling or recovery of empty containers, drums and IBC’s.
The services offered include:
The services offered include:
We are part of the SeatSmart programme and subsidise the cost of recycling unwanted children’s car seats.
The usual price for getting rid of a seat is $35, but with our Council subsidy people pay only $20 when the seats are returned to our recycling partner Baby on the Move Nelson.
Metal and most plastics from the dismantled seats are recycled, while straps are repurposed for handmade bags.
Remember to check your car seats expiry date.
Manufacturers set an expiry date because during a car seat’s lifetime ‘Safe Use’ labels fade and become hard to read. Frequent use and exposure to sunlight can damage and weaken plastic. Food, drinks, cleaners, and other materials that may have been spilled or used on webbing may also prevent them from working safely.
Safety regulations and standards also change, and safer products come on the market over time.
Contact Baby on the Move Nelson, our car seat recycling partner, for more information. You can find them on Facebook or send them an email.
There are lots of options for recycling electronic waste ('e-waste') in the Nelson Tasman region. We recommend electronic waste is recycled rather than taken to your local Resource Recovery Centre for disposal in the landfill.
We also provide free disposal of batteries at Resource Recovery Centres and at our Council Service Centres - see "Free battery drop off locations" above for more information.
Tasman District Council provides support to local e-waste recyclers Nelson Environment Centre and Weka Peckers Recycling, to reduce the cost of e-waste recycling for all Tasman residents and businesses. Small charges apply for most items, to cover processing costs.
When dropping off your e-waste please make sure to speak to staff to find out where to leave your items, and pay any charges that apply. Do not leave your items without first getting the approval of staff to do so.
Common e-waste items accepted by Nelson Environment Centre and Weka Peckers Recycling are listed below. If in doubt, give them a call before you visit.
Nelson Environment Centre:
6 Vivian Place, Annesbrook.
Phone: 03 545 9176
[email protected]
E-waste drop-off available during opening hours:
Please contact the Nelson Environment Centre if you would like to arrange collection of your e-waste. Please note there is an additional cost for the collection service.
Find out more about electronic waste on the Nelson Environment Centre website
Weka Peckers Recycling:
97 Robinson Road, Lower Moutere
Phone: 03-526 7000
Weka Peckers Recycling - Facebook
E-waste drop-off available during opening hours:
Find out more about Weka Peckers Recycling on their Facebook page.
TechCollect NZ is a nationwide not-for-profit supporting the development of a registered product stewardship scheme for electrical and electronic products in Aotearoa. They provide a free collection and recycling service for ICT equipment for households and small businesses.
The following items can be taken to Noel Leeming Nelson, 80 Bridge Street, for recycling through TechCollect:
Read more about TechCollect NZ on their website here.
Have you got a collection of used mobile phones gathering dust in a drawer somewhere? RE:MOBILE wants these old mobile phones, regardless of whether they're in perfect working order or don't even turn on.
It's really important that you do not throw your old cellphone in a rubbish or recycling bin, as they can cause fires at our Resource Recovery Centres or landfill when they are crushed or damaged.
Did you know, the Tokyo Olympic Games used metals extracted from recycled mobile phones and other electronic waste to make their Olympic medals?! There is real value in the materials inside your old cellphone, don't let them go to waste!
Take your old cellphones to one of these Tasman retailers for free recycling:
Read these tips on how to delete the data on your phone before taking it to one of these dropoff points.
View a map of drop off locations and find out more about RE:MOBILE on their website here.
Recycle A Device, or RAD, is an Aotearoa initiative that matches those who need a laptop with a donated and refurbished device. RAD teaches high school students how to refurbish donated laptops, and then works with community groups to get the laptops into the hands of students and rangatahi (young people) who need them.
If you have a laptop that is less than 10 years old and comes with a charger, consider donating it to RAD.
Find out more on their website here.
Electronic waste is the fastest-growing type of waste in the world. In New Zealand, we generate around 80,000 tonnes of e-waste per year. Some e-waste contains dangerous metals and other substances that can be toxic to the environment and to human health if disposed of or handled inappropriately. Some e-waste may also contain valuable and scarce resources that should be recovered and recycled rather than landfilled.
Mitre 10 has partnered with EXPOL to help solve a tricky waste challenge – what to do with expanded polystyrene (EPS).
Expanded polystyrene (EPS), is the stuff that looks like white boards made of little beads and is often used to protect fragile goods and appliances.
The programme encourages customers to recycle EPS polystyrene (whether it was purchased from Mitre 10 or or not) as it’s difficult to dispose of responsibly. EXPOL then repurposes the material into new products.
This service is available from Mitre 10 in Nelson. Read more about it here.
Batteries, particularly lithium-ion (LI) batteries from personal devices such as smartphones and computers contain hazardous materials and are a leading cause of fires in landfills and compactor trucks. Fires caused by electronic waste are a growing problem – when refuse is compacted or crushed in rubbish trucks and landfills, the batteries can be damaged and cause fires.
We need your help to reduce fire risk, by keeping batteries out of recycling and rubbish bins. Instead of binning your batteries, please take them to one of the free drop-off points identified below.
We accept:
We do NOT accept:
You can take the battery types listed above to any Tasman Resource Recovery Centre.
You can take every day loose household and office batteries, including rechargeable and single-use batteries up to the size of a power tool battery pack to:
What happens to batteries collected at our free drop-off points?
Batteries are sent to an E-Recycling facility in Christchurch for recycling. By keeping your batteries out of landfill, not only are you reducing the risk of fires, you're also giving these valuable resources a new life. Win-win!
Resource Recovery Centres collect all unused paint and containers (not just Resene) under the Resene Paintwise scheme:
Soft plastics include items like bread bags, courier bags, bubble wrap, frozen food bags, chip bags and squeeze pouches. Basically anything made of soft plastic which can be scrunched into a ball.
The Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme is available via distinctive recycling bins at The Warehouse Richmond, The Warehouse Motueka, Countdown Richmond, Countdown Motueka, New World Motuek and Fresh Choice Tākaka.
The scheme is a partnership with Enviro NZ who collect the soft plastics from stores, bale and transport them to Future Post in Marlborough.
All the soft plastic collected in Tasman will be processed at the new Future Post facility in Blenheim and recycled into fence posts destined for local farms and vineyards.
Another option
NZ Post has partnered with the Packaging Forum and Future Post to provide Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bags for recycling your soft plastics.
Simply buy a pre-paid Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bag, fill it with your clean, empty and dry soft plastics, then book a courier for pick-up. Your soft plastics will then be transformed into long-life products like fence posts.
Courier bags are $7 each, and are available to purchase online here, or from The Warehouse.
You can read more about this service on the NZ Post website here.
We’ve joined a national scheme that is turning waste into opportunities.
You can now take your old vehicle tyres to any of our Resource Recovery Centres in the Tasman District and get rid of them at no cost under the new nationwide Tyrewise scheme. The collected tyres then go on to be recycled in various ways.
Some of the end-of-use tyres are co-processed alongside wood waste as an alternative fuel in Golden Bay Cement’s cement kiln.
The rubber is reconstituted and manufactured into flooring for artificial sports fields, equestrian arenas, and playground matting.
Investigations are even underway into the use of finely shredded end-of-life tyre rubber as an additive in building foundations.
This work is funded by the tyre stewardship fee paid on newly imported tyres.
There are a few conditions that need to be followed though. Tyres must be clean and no more than five tyres can be bought in at once. We can’t take tyres on rims, nor can we accept things like bicycle tyres and pram tyres etc, and we also can’t deal with oversized tyres.
We have Waste Minimisation Grants available to help event organisers to reduce the amount of waste at an event, using a wide range of waste minimisation initiatives.
The aim is to also raise awareness of recycling, recovery, and composting in the community for those attending the events.
Grants of up to $500 are available. Applications are open all year round but you must use the funding within six months of receiving it.
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