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Product Recall & Safety Notices - find out more
Recycling Reset
Life can get in the way of successful recycling – time pressures, confusion over what can be recycled, or family resistance. The reality is that for recycling to work well, it will take a little bit of effort. If your home needs a reset, here are some ways to make sure your recycling efforts don’t get side-tracked.
Know what can go in kerbside recycling
From 1st February 2024 all Councils countrywide now operate the same requirements for what can go into kerbside recycling. 
The first rule is ‘empty and clean’. Anything you put in your recycling bin should have no food waste or residues that could contaminate the recycling processes. 
Putting one item in your bin that is non-recyclable can mean that the whole load goes to landfill… so it can be hard to know what to put in. Here’s a handy guide:
Acceptable
- Glass bottles and jars 
- Tin, steel and aluminium cans, including empty aerosols 
- Plastic bottles, trays and containers that are numbered 1, 2 and 5 (no lids)
- Pizza boxes (remove any food!) 
- Newspapers, magazines, advertising mail and envelopes 
- Paper and cardboard packaging 
- Egg cartons
Not acceptable
- Plastic bags – they get caught in the sorting machines 
- Food waste 
- Lids from plastic bottles
- Garden waste 
- Medical waste 
- Building waste 
- Chemicals and hazardous waste 
- Nappies and sanitary products 
- Polystyrene takeaway containers and polystyrene meat trays 
- Clothing, shoes and textiles 
- Cookware, Pyrex®, drinking glasses,  window glass and mirror glass 
- Light bulbs
- Fluorescent tubes and lamps, including Compact Fluorescent Lamps – they contain toxic mercury
- Electronic and electrical items 
- Batteries – lithium batteries can explode and have been known to cause fires in recycling trucks
For more information visit: Recycle right at kerbside | Ministry for the Environment
Beyond the kerb
What about household waste that can’t go in kerbside recycling?
Mitre 10 stores accept polystyrene packaging, lightbulbs and plastic ID5 plant pots and labels.
Supermarkets often take soft plastics or ask your local council about a community recycling centre to drop off unwanted items. They usually accept items like furniture, large appliances and household bric-a-brac and some have stores where they will sell anything usable.
Need a community group or school fundraising idea? Try a market swap day where families donate clothes, books and household items to be sold or auctioned, or hold a garage sale in your community. Remember, ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure’.
Good systems
Habits become routine quickly. Set up space in your home for recycling such as the garage, kitchen, laundry Label containers for each type of recycling – a bucket for your kerbside recycling, a compost bucket with a lid, a large canvas bag for soft plastics and a small crate for plant pots. Keep a box in the car for items that can be recycled at Mitre 10 stores and supermarkets. The easier you can make it to sort your recycling, the more likely you are to stick with it.
Get the family or flatties on board
This can be the hardest part! If you have children, turn it into a game or sticker chart opportunity, or incentivise teenagers by making recycling part of pocket money chores. If you have a reluctant partner or flatmate, make it as easy as possible. Try one element at a time to change behaviours gradually. For example, for the first month, focus on rinsing kerbside recycling properly. Once that’s become a habit, add a soft plastics basket or bag to the kitchen. You’ve got this!