Rubbish and recycling (collection and disposal) is an essential service, and a priority for our city. We want our community to know that all kerbside rubbish and recycling collection services will continue as normal.

What you need to know

Transfer stations (including recycle centres)

• Both transfer stations (including the recycle centres), as well as the Jack Shaw cleanfill will be closed to the public from Saturday, 28 March 2020, until the end of the lock down. Initially our desire was to keep the transfer station open as part of our essential services, however, in order to reduce all non-essential travel, and ensure the safety of our staff, we have decided to close them and ask the community to use regular kerbside rubbish and recycling collection services instead.
• If you normally take your recycling to the recycling centres, please dispose of it in your kerbside rubbish collection.

Rubbish collection

• Official council rubbish bags can be purchased from the supermarket as normal.
• Place bags on the kerbside by 7.30am on your normal collection day.

Kerbside recycling

• If you have a kerbside recycling wheelie bin with a private waste company – please continue to put your recycling into it and put it out for collection as normal during the lock down. While your recycling will continue to be collected from the kerbside, it will be placed into landfill rather than being recycled during this period. This is due to the hand sorting required for recycling.

Kerbside glass collection

• We will continue to provide the fortnightly kerbside glass recycling collection.
• We ask you to continue to follow the collection guidelines:
  • only place your crate out for collection if it is more than half full
  • do not over fill your crates
  • place your crate on the kerbside at 7:30am on your normal collection day.

• For safety reasons, we will not be hand sorting the glass bottles and jars at the kerbside. Therefore, crates containing items other than glass bottles and jars will not be collected. The glass will get recycled as mixed colour glass, rather than being separated into different colours during the lockdown period.

Public place bins

• Public place bins will continue to be monitored and emptied.

As part of our response to COVID-19, we will review daily what is necessary to serve our community, as well as keeping council staff and our contractors safe. There may need to be changes to kerbside waste collection services at a later stage. Any necessary changes will be communicated via our website and social media channels.

If you have any questions around your kerbside service undertaken by a private waste company, or need to report any missed collections, please contact your private waste service provider directly. If your enquiry relates to the council kerbside rubbish bag service, or the kerbside glass recycling collection service, please call us on 07 577 7000 or visit our website.

More information about council waste collections and other services during the shutdown for COVID-19 is available via www.tauranga.govt.nz/covid19