Changes to regulate recycling nationwide will have minimal impact on requirements for residential kerbside collection in Tairāwhiti.

The government is introducing standardised kerbside recycling across New Zealand, in a bid to increase consistency and reduce unnecessary waste to landfill.

Gisborne District Council Director of Liveable Communities Michèle Frey says this means you can go anywhere in the country and know how and what to put kerbside, helping all kiwis recycle better together.

“From 1 February 2024, all councils must align with new national standards. For Tairāwhiti, the only change will be an exclusion of aerosol cans.”

“We are pretty ahead of the game when it comes to recycling, meeting most requirements already - such as accepting only plastics 1, 2, 5 and ensuring lids and caps are removed and put into the rubbish bin.”

“For us there is just one minor tweak to household habits - you will no longer be able to put aerosol cans, such as fly spray or deodorant, in your kerbside recycling bin.

“This is mainly for health and safety reasons - the recycling plants don’t have safety equipment to compact aerosols in a way that prevents fires or ducts fumes outside the building.”

Tairāwhiti is set to welcome wheelie bins and a food waste collection in 2025, Ms Frey says.

“Properties that fall within the current city kerbside collection will move from a bag, sticker plus crate service to wheelie bins for general waste, recycling and food collection.”

A Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme will continue to run, with drop off points at Gisborne Countdown, The Warehouse, Pak n Save, Tairāwhiti Environment Centre or 4 Squares in Tokomaru Bay, Ruatoria and Te Araroa.

Liquid paperboard aka Tetra Pak including cardboard type milk cartons, yoghurt, juice, soup and stock cartons, can still be dropped to the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre. Scrap Metal can be recycled through Metal Co on Banks Street in Gisborne.

For more information on what and where to recycle please visit our website: www.gdc.govt.nz/services/rubbish-and-recycling/what-goes-where

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