From 1 February, the Government is standardising what materials can be collected from households in their recycling and organics bins across New Zealand.

The only items able to be recycled from home will be plastic bottles, cleaned clear meat trays, containers numbered 1, 2 and 5, food and drink tins and cans, paper and cardboard, and glass bottles and jars.

Waimakariri residents will also now be able to put empty, clean pizza boxes without food scraps into the yellow recycling bin.

Tea bags, shredded paper, serviettes, paper towels and aerosol cans will now need to go into the red rubbish bin. All lids and drink cartons continue to go in the red bin. Soft plastics can be taken to participating soft plastics recycling stores in Rangiora and Ravenswood, otherwise they need to go into your rubbish bin or bag.

Collecting the same materials through kerbside collections will make it easier for everyone to put items in the correct bin, no matter where they are in New Zealand.

Residents can still drop off their recycling and hazardous waste items for free at the Southbrook Resource Recovery Park and Oxford Transfer Station, as well as dispose of large quantities of green waste or rubbish at these sites.

“It’s important to prepare your items for kerbside collection,” says Solid Waste Manager Kitty Waghorn.

“This means taking the lids off any bottles or containers and rinsing all items before placing them in your recycling bin, without bagging or squashing them.

“Waimakariri residents are good at recycling, so it’s important to keep it this way and continue to put the right items in the right bins."

For more information on the changes to standardise household kerbside collections, click here.