If you decide to opt in for kerbside organics or rubbish wheelie bins, you can call us and your order will processed by our team. You will receive an invoice for the delivery fee and the collection costs to the next 30 June. Once we receive payment, an order will be placed and we’ll let you know when to expect delivery.

Your new bin will have your property address labelled on it so that you know the bin belongs at your home. A bin allocated to a property has to stay at that property. Please leave the bin behind when you are moving out.

Organics and rubbish bin costs are added to rates, so the service is only available to the owner of the property. Tenants will need to discuss new bin collections with their landlord.

* The Council’s Organics bin and rubbish bag collection services are not available in the extended Ohoka Collection Area (including Mulcocks Road).

Order kerbside bins online.

A bin delivery charge applies when bins are delivered or removed from a property. This is separate to the pickup charges. For more detail, visit our kerbside bins fees and charges page.

Recycling wheelie bins have been allocated to each property that is rated for the kerbside collection service and the cost of collection is included in your rates.

Rubbish bags are user-pays and aren’t charged in rates. The cost of the bag covers the collection and disposal fees for households located within the Council's Kerbside Collection Area. These are available from most supermarkets and all Council Service Centres in the District. For anyone located outside of the Kerbside Collection Area, bags can be disposed of 'for free' at the Southbrook Resource Recovery Park or the Oxford Transfer Station.

You’re entitled to a recycling bin if your property is within the Council’s kerbside collection area.  Phone or call into any Council Service Centre to tell us that you would like a bin delivered. Remember to leave any bins at the previous property as they belong to the property.

If you want to select organics and rubbish bins for your property, contact us to make arrangements on 0800 965 468.

From 1 February, materials collected from households for recycling will be standardised across New Zealand.

Only these things can be recycled from home:

• Plastic bottles, clean clear plastic trays and plastic containers numbered 1, 2 and 5
• Food and drink tins and cans
• Paper and cardboard
• Glass bottles and jars

For Waimakariri, this means the following changes:

From 1 February 2024, the Government, led by the Ministry for the Environment, are introducing new national standards to kerbside bin collections, so now most Kiwis can sort their recycling, organics and rubbish in the same way.

Collecting the same materials in kerbside recycling services will make it easier for everyone to put items in the right bin no matter where they are in New Zealand.

It will also help businesses to design and manufacture packaging they know can be recycled from anywhere in the country. The changes will help recycling facilities by improving the quality of the materials they receive, so they can recycle more.

For more information on the changes to standardise household recycling, visit the Ministry for the Environment.

Only these things can be recycled from home:

• Plastic bottles, clean clear plastic trays and containers numbered 1, 2 and 5 (larger than a yoghurt pottle and smaller than four litres)
• Food and drink tins and cans
• Paper and cardboard (including clean pizza boxes, and paper no smaller than a standard office envelope i.e., 225 mm x 115 mm)
• Glass bottles and jars

Remember to give your bottle, tins, cans and containers a rinse, make sure they're not bagged or squashed and put all lids in the red bin.

All food waste and most garden waste can go into your green organics bin.

Food waste includes:

• Fruit and vegetables
• Meat, bones and fish
• Bread and pastries
• Dairy products
• Coffee grounds and loose tea leaves
• Shells and shellfish

Liquids can't go in any bin. Cooking oil can be dropped off at Southbrook Resource Recovery Park free of charge.

Garden waste includes:

• Cut flowers, pruned branches and leaves
• Grass clippings – unless sprayed with a herbicide containing Clopyralid

We can't accept soil, or cuttings from flax and cabbage trees. Please put these in your rubbish bin or bag, or dispose of them at Southbrook Resource Recovery Park or Oxford Transfer Station for a fee.

Aerosols can explode under pressure and cause fires at recycling facilities when the cans aren’t completely empty.

Some aerosols also contain poisonous contents, such as insecticides and automotive sprays. Staff at recycling facilities may be exposed to these contents when aerosols are damaged or crushed for baling.

We can accept aerosol cans at Southbrook Resource Recovery Park. Please drop them in the bin labelled for aerosols, which is near the scrap bunker in the recycling area.

Empty, clean pizza boxes can be placed in your yellow bin. The Ministry for the Environment has provided advice that paper and cardboard items can introduce pollutants into soil, such as inks that include heavy metals and/or microplastics.

Take the lids off containers, bottles and jars, rinse out any dirty items and put your plastic and glass containers, food and drink tins, and cans into your recycling bin.  Make sure boxes are empty and clean, and flatten them before you recycle them. Paper also needs to be clean and flat to be recycled. Everything should be loose in your bin and not in bags.

Please keep them out of your household recycling and put them in your rubbish bin or bag. Lids are too small to be separated by machinery at our recycling plant. Sorting machinery can also mistake flat lids for paper, so they contaminate paper recycling.

Find out more information about the new changes on the Ministry for the Environment website.

Rubbish, organics and recycling are collected on the same day of the week, but at different frequencies. Kerbside collections in the Waimakariri are split into Week 1 and Week 2 recycling collections, and this dictates when your kerbside bins are collected.

You can check this map and enter your address to find out if your recycling collection day is a Week 1 or Week 2. And we have a handy calendar showing which days to put each bin out.

• Kerbside Collections Calendar

Having trouble remembering what bin is collected when? Click here to set up email or text reminders.

• Organics are collected weekly
• Recycling is collected fortnightly
• Rubbish bag and bin collections are fortnightly on the alternate week to your recycling.

Here are some tips for when we're expecting severe weather.

High winds

We all know how windy the Waimakariri District can be, and it often hits us during the night, blowing bins over, spilling contents to blow down the street.

If you think your bin could be blown over during high wind, consider putting it out on the morning of your collection day, before 7am rather than the night before. If your bin isn't full, you could also leave it until your next collection, or take it to a  Transfer Station.

Otherwise, here are a few tips:

• Make sure bins are closed and secure - bin lids should always be closed flat
• Don't put your bin out too early. We recommend putting your bin out on the morning of your collection, before 7am so you don't risk missing the pick up
• We can provide a special clip to help stop the lid coming open if the wind blows your bin over. Contact us on 0800 965 468
• Put your bin in a sheltered spot, that's still accessible for the truck arm to pick it up
• Place your bin in a cluster of other bins that could offer a bit of shelter - but make sure the bins are at least 50cm apart so that the truck arm can collect them
• Bring in your bin as soon as you can after collection to reduce the risk of the bin blowing over and breaking, or blocking the road or footpath
• Make sure that you bring your bin inside your property as soon as you can on your collection day once it’s been emptied, and don’t leave it out on the street overnight

Severe weather

It's not often that weather stops kerbside collection from continuing. But if this happens, we'll update residents on Facebook and our website if severe weather causes any changes to kerbside collections.

How to place your bins and rubbish bags

We want to make sure your bin is emptied and your rubbish bag is picked up on collection day. To help out, here are some guidelines...

• Put your bins and bags out before 7am on your collection day
• Make sure bins are spaced at least half a metre apart to help the collection arm lift them. Bins need to be well clear of letterboxes, fences, trees, posts and other street furniture, to reduce the chance of damage occurring when the bin is lifted – it swings back and up quite a long way.
• Smaller bins need to be visible so the driver can see them - not hidden behind larger bins
• If a car is in the way, place the bin in front of it if you can
• Rubbish bags should be on the berm, footpath or verge – not on top of bins or in the gutter
• Lids need to be closed flat – this stops contents falling on the street when it’s lifted for emptying
• The lid opening needs to face the road
• We can’t pick up over-flowing or bins over 70kg
• If it’s windy, or high winds are forecast, pop your bin out before 7am on the morning of your collection day rather than the night before. We can provide a special clip to help stop the lid coming open if it gets blown over. Contact us on 0800 965 468.

Kerbside collections will move to the following day on these public holidays:

Christmas Day
New Years Day
Good Friday
ANZAC Day
For all other public holidays, bins will be emptied as usual. Please make sure your bin is out by 7am on your collection day.

Never miss a collection day! Sign up for text or email alerts to receive a reminder the day before your bin needs to go out. Just click on the link here, enter your address and click on 'Set Reminders'. You will then be asked to choose your reminder preferences.

If your bin was out at 7am and it met our collection criteria, contact our Customer Services Team on 0800 965 468 and we can look into it for you.

Collection criteria:

• Check which bins are being collected that week
• Bins need to be on the kerbside by 7am
• Bin lids are fully closed
• WDC-branded bags only

If you’ve missed putting your bin or bag out on your collection day, or put them out after the truck went past and missed being collected, you’ll need to wait until your next scheduled collection for them to be emptied. You can take WDC-branded bags to Southbrook resource recovery part or Oxford transfer station at no charge; and you can drop off recycling for free at these facilities but it will need to be sorted and separated first.

If any of your bins go missing on your collection day, call the Council or email us (office@wmk.govt.nz) within 24 hours to let us know. Check with your neighbours in case they have taken it in by mistake, and if you do find it contact us again as soon as possible to tell us it’s been found.

Missing bins will be replaced at no charge if they are reported within 24 hours of the collection day they disappeared. There will be a charge for bins to be replaced if they are reported as missing outside that 24 hour period. We ask for missing bins to be reported within 24 hours to encourage residents to retrieve their bin from kerbside the same day as collection, so the footpath is kept as clear as possible. You can find out the fees and charges here.

Missing bins will be replaced before your next collection day.

If your bin, lid or wheels are broken, or your bin lid is missing please contact our friendly Customer Services Team on 0800 965 468 or email office@wmk.govt.nz with your details and they will organise the repair or replacement of the broken part for you.

Plastic bottles and containers have a plastic ID code, usually on the bottom of the container inside a small triangle. This ID indicates the type of plastic it is, which helps us to know whether or not it can be recycled. At kerbside and at the transfer stations, we can accept plastic types 1, 2 and 5.  The identification also helps consumers to do the right thing when they know what kind of plastic they are dealing with.

You can find out more about plastic ID codes here.

Plastic

Look for the Triangle.

Plastic bottles and containers have a plastic ID code, usually on the bottom of the container inside a small triangle. This ID indicates the type of plastic it is, which helps us to know whether or not it can be recycled. At kerbside and at the transfer stations, we can accept plastic types 1, 2 and 5.  The identification also helps consumers to do the right thing when they know what kind of plastic they are dealing with.

You can find out more about plastic ID codes here.

• Clear PET (plastic type 1) is clear bottles like soft drink and clear containers. These are sold locally to a New Zealand based processor and remanufactured into clear meat trays for a large supermarket chain.
• Plastic type 2, HDPE are containers like opaque milk bottles that contain no added pigment. HDPE natural is a valued recycling commodity as it can be made into a wide variety of HDPE products. HDPE natural is sold and processed locally.
• Coloured plastics type 2 (HDPE) is currently sent overseas to be recycled.
• Plastic numbered 5 (PP) are clear containers, like your takeaways come in and reusable water bottles. This is also a valued recycling commodity and is sold and processed locally.
• Mixed plastics, type 3, 4, 6 and 7, plastics with no plastic code, and coloured No. 1 (PET) are a low grade product that are difficult to turn into other useable containers. They are not accepted at kerbside, at the transfer station recycling areas or at the Cust rural recycling facility, so please put these in your rubbish bag or bin.

Glass

Glass makes up 35% of Waimakariri’s  total recycling, and it’s recycled in New Zealand. (Figure current at 2020/21 financial year).

Colour-sorted glass from Transfer Stations goes to O-I New Zealand, in Auckland. The glass is then mixed with other raw materials and fed into a furnace where it’s melted down to make bottles and jars.

The glass from the kerbside recycling bins is processed into differing grades of sand. These products can be used in many applications including road fill, turf management, filters and sand blasting.

Steel Cans and Tins

Steel cans are one of the world's most recyclable products. Steel cans are sold locally and are exported for processing. We accept empty, rinsed steel food tins in kerbside recycling. Aerosols or spray cans can be dropped off at one of our transfer stations in the aerosols bin, as they are classed as a hazardous waste because they are pressurised.

Aluminium/drink cans

Aluminium bales are recycled and 60% energy is saved using recycled aluminium material. Aluminium cans are sold locally. We accept empty and rinsed drink cans in kerside recycling and in the aluminum can bin at our transfer station.

Paper and Cardboard

Mixed paper and corrugated cardboard is baled and exported to countries such as India, Thailand and Vietnam. EcoCentral is investigating on-shore solutions for paper recycling.

Lids

Lids can't be processed through Eco Sort, who are the Material Recovery Facility that sort most of Canterbury's recycling, regardless of their plastic type, due to their shape and size.

The plant uses sorting machine that is designed to sort items by shape and size. Flat items like lids end up in the paper stream and small lids fall through into the glass line causing contamination. It's a drawback with a semi-automated plant that some items can’t be sorted, but it does allow all of Waimakariri, Christchurch, Selwyn and Ashburton’s recycling to be processed each day.

You can read more about where lids go here.

What Happens to Non-Recyclable Items?

Any items put in the kerbside recycling bin that can't be recycled have to be removed either by hand or machine and are sent to the landfill. This is a time consuming and sometimes unpleasant job for the people doing this work.

We can only take from the kerbside items that are accepted by EcoSort, who are the Material Recovery Facility that sort most of Canterbury's recycling.

To reduce contamination and recycling ending up in the landfill, it's important to only put in your yellow bin the items that can be accepted. We spot check bins to make sure only the items we can recycle are going into the kerbside bins as it's the best way for us to see first hand any items that are causing confusion. If a bin is badly contaminated  we won't be able to empty it and will let you know what items need to be removed for it to be emptied next time.