What to do with unwanted items

Here are some ways to recycle your unwanted or disused items.  

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Rethink Waste Education Centre

386 Palmerston Road, ph: 867 4708
Hours: Tuesday - Friday 9am - 3pm, Saturday 11am - 1pm

Recycle: coffee machine pods, Colgate products, household batteries, compact florescent light bulbs, mobile phones, eWaste - see price list

Purchase: Bokashi zing, recycling bin nets $10

Appliances

• Transfer station for a charge 
• Whiteware - M E Jukes, Stanley Road - small charge
• When you purchase a new appliance, ask the retailer to take your old appliance 

If they're small enough they can be placed in your kerbside rubbish collection.

Batteries

For responsible disposal and recycling. Full range of batteries accepted at:

• Gisborne Autoelectrics, 159 Carnarvon Street
• Gisborne Metal Recyclers Ltd, 265a Grey St, visit website(external link)
• Bensons Auto Electrical, 160 Kahutia Street

Books and magazines

• hospital, doctors waiting rooms, charitable organisations
• kindergartens, childcare facilities and Kohanga Reo
• kerbside recycling collection
• Waste Management NZ Ltd recycling depot, 75 Innes Street
• Lytton High School book fair

Bricks and concrete

• M E Jukes, Stanley Road

Building materials

• Trading Post Recyclers, 71 Awapuni Road
• Neil Andrew Timber Recycling - visit website(external link)

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Cans 

• kerbside recycling collection - steel and aluminium cans, empty aerosols
• Waste Management NZ Ltd recycling depot 75 Innes Street
• schools and church groups may collect aluminium cans or can tabs as fundraisers
• bins at Countdown car park
• Gisborne Metal Recyclers, 265a Grey Street, visit website(external link)

Car bodies or wrecks

• Eastland Autowreckers, 212 Stanley Rd

Cellphones

Recycle your old mobile phone and raise funds for Starship's National Air Ambulance. An invaluable service that flies medical experts to emergencies around the country and brings children back to Starship for lifesaving care.

• drop off in store at Spark, Vodafone, 2degrees and the Environment Centre

Chemicals

• farm chemicals - Agrecovery Rural Recycling Programme(external link)
• Others - contact us for advice

Clothing - good, clean used

• friends and families (second-time around, dress up for children)
• kindergartens, childcare facilities and Kohanga Reo
• charitable organisations
• flea market or garage sale
• advertise - Eastland Trader, Gisborne Herald, TradeMe, Facebook

Computers

• If you buy a new computer, ask the retailer if they will take your old one
• look out for eWaste recycling days

Concrete and bricks

• M E Jukes, Stanley Road

Containers

• Plastic agrichemical containers - Agrecovery Rural Recycling Programme(external link)

Curtains

• charity outlets
• Red Cross, 336 Palmerston Rd 

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Event recycling 

• contact Waste Management NZ Ltd
• or contact us for free recycling bins and flags

Farm waste

• chemical containers at AgRecovery, Matawhero visit Agrecovery's website(external link)
• bale wrap - Plasback(external link)
• Waste Management NZ Ltd, 75 Innes Street 
• For chemical disposal contact Agrecovery (0800 247 326)

• Cylinder test laboratory, corner of Childers Road and Carnarvon Street
• exchange gas bottles for new one at Bunnings

Glass bottles and jars

• kerbside recycling collection
• Waste Management NZ Ltd, 75 Innes Street 
• kindergartens, childcare facilities and kohanga reo
• useful for jams/pickles etc, advertise Eastland Trader, Gisborne Herald

Garden waste

• tree pruning can be put aside for kindling or firewood
• hire a shredder or use a contractor (see tree services in the yellow pages)
• employ a green waste contractor (see lawn mowing services in the yellow pages)
• Judds, McDonalds Road - make and sell compost
• Waste Management NZ Ltd, 75 Innes Street - see their opening hours 

Household items

• Secondhand Sunday - 1st Sunday of each month except January. Register with us 
• charitable organisations or church groups
• advertise Eastland Trader. Gisborne Herald, Facebook
• secondhand dealers

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Knitting wool 

• charitable organisations, church groups
• kindergartens, childcare centres, schools and kohanga reo
• rest homes

Light bulbs 

Compact fluorescent lights and tubes can safely be recycled by Interwaste(external link) 

• a good fundraiser for a gold coin donation

Metal 

Metal recyclers take most items that are predominantly metal.

• Gisborne Metal Recyclers Ltd, 22 Banks Street, visit website(external link)
• M E Jukes, Stanley Road - a small charge applies

Mobile phones

• drop off at The Environment Centre, 386 Palmerston Road
• drop off in store at Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees.

Needles and syringes

Tairawhiti District Health has a system for collecting needles and syringes. People will receive a safe sharps disposal bin from the pharmacy when they pick up their prescription. When the disposal bin is full, it can be returned to the pharmacy for a replacement.  

Oil 

Engine waste oil can be recycled at the city transfer station, Innes Street. Waste Management charge $1 per litre and prefer to accept it in plastic containers.

Fat, oil, grease from food - The Tallowman(external link)

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Packaging 

• most stores are happy to take back the packaging when you buy electronic items

Household packaging can go into your recycling bin or be taken to the transfer station.  This includes steel and aluminium cans, empty aerosols, glass bottles and jars, clean paper and cardboard, plastic bottles and other clean packaging such as yoghurt, margarine, ice-cream containers.

Paint

Resene Colourshop - recycles cans and pails of old paint. Resene paint is free, other brands have a small charge.  Community groups can apply for free paint, remaining paint gets mixed together and the grey paint is available for graffiti paint-out. Apply for paint online at www.resene.co.nz (external link)

• kindergartens, childcare facilities, schools and Kohanga Reo
• Eastland Trader, Gisborne Herald

Paper and cardboard

• kerbside recycling collection
• Waste Management NZ Ltd, 75 Innes Street  
• kindergartens, childcare facilities and kohanga reo

Phones

• drop off in store at Spark, Vodafone, 2degrees, Gisborne District Council

Printer or photocopier cartridges

• Business Applications, Grey Street
• Office Products Depot - takes all types of printer cartridges for recycling
• Croxley Recycling(external link)

Plastic containers and bags

Kerbside recycling collection takes all the plastic containers used to package food and household cleaners with recycle No. 1-7.
Note: Plastic bags, cling-wrap and polystyrene are not recyclable.

• Waste Management NZ Ltd recycling drop off, Innes Street 
• Waste Management NZ Ltd do a commercial collection of recyclables, including shrink-wrap
• kindergartens, childcare centres, kohanga reo 
• rest homes are always wanting ice-cream containers

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Recycling

• Kerbside recycling collection - what can be recycled

Soil, dirt, topsoil 

• M E Jukes, Stanley Road

Spectacles - eye wear, glasses

• Drop them into any optician, they are used in developing countries.

Timber

• rimu and other native timbers are used by people making furniture
• secondary schools or polytech for use in the woodwork room
• Trading Post Recyclers, 71 Awapuni Road
• Neil Andrew Timber Recycling - visit website(external link)

Televisions

• When you purchase a new TV, ask if the retailer can take your old one
• Waste Management NZ Ltd, 75 Innes Street
• Keep an eye out for eWaste recycling days

Tyres

• service station or specialist tyre company
• Waste Management NZ Ltd, 75 Innes Street

Whiteware

When you purchase a new appliance, ask the retailer to take your old appliance.

• M E Jukes, Stanley Road - small charge

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Electronic waste recycling - price list

Drop off at Rethink Waste Education Centre during their opening hours. 
All equipment is sent to South Waikato Achievement Centre for reuse or recycling.