Why we don’t accept some items in kerbside recycling
The materials that are accepted in kerbside recycling are of high quality and valuable. They have viable markets where manufacturers can easily turn them into new products again and again.
Items that are not accepted in New Zealand kerbside recycling are hard to recycle because they are usually made of materials that are problematic to sort, of lower quality and value. Therefore there are few end markets for them.
See what you can and can't recycle.
Alternative recycling schemes
Some items that are not accepted in kerbside recycling have alternative recycling schemes, such as soft plastic – see drop off points on the Soft Plastic Recycling website.
Find more specialised recycling drop off options by searching for items on what to do with your waste.
What happens to non-recyclables that are collected?
Incorrect items make our sorters and collectors' jobs harder; they need to be removed by hand and sent to landfill.
However, the speed of sorting and volumes processed means incorrect items are sometimes unable to be removed and end up contaminating baled recyclable material. This lowers the quality and value of the bales.
Putting the right clean items in your bin or bag at home helps to avoid this and keep our recycling quality high. This means the recycling markets, where we sell our recycling, are more likely to buy it.