Recycling hazardous waste
Hazardous waste can be in a liquid, solid or even gas form. Engine oil, gas bottles, car batteries, paint, fire extinguishers, toners from copiers or laser printers and fluorescent lighting tubes are all examples of hazardous waste.
Caution: Your home may contain many hazardous materials, some of which can be recycled. If not recyclable, materials can be disposed of safely.
Many councils provide services to safely dispose of these items. Check your local council for details.
Hazardous items
Fluorescent lights
Examples: long tubes or Compact Fluorescent Lamps
Recyclable? YES
All Mitre 10 stores are now accepting used household lightbulbs, including fluorescent and LED types, to be recycled (no cost for drop-offs). No broken bulbs, please.
Fluorescent lights and tubes contain mercury and are hazardous - these must not go into your kerbside recycling or general rubbish. Many council transfer stations and resource recovery centres will accept fluorescent bulbs as well as the larger lamps and fluorescent tubes.
Batteries
Recyclable? YES
Household and power tool batteries
These include alkaline, lithium, lithium-ion rechargeable, nickel-cadmium rechargeable, and button (coin cell) batteries (often used in hearing aids). Taping over the terminals of each battery with clear tape or electrical insulation tape will prevent sparks or short-circuiting during storage, transportation and processing of the used batteries (see image).
You can take your used household batteries to one of the locations listed on the WasteMINZ website (please note that the facilities listed have different requirements as to the types of batteries they can receive and how batteries should be prepared). Alternatively, check your local council website for council-managed drop-off locations (often these are in easily accessible locations such as libraries).
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Car batteries
Most council transfer stations will accept car batteries for recycling. Lead acid batteries from vehicles can be dropped off at any Supercheap Auto store. Repco will accept a range of car batteries (refer to website for details).
E-waste batteries
Batteries from devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and power tools are considered e-waste (see below). If a battery is built into a device (such as portable speakers), it is safest not to attempt to remove it.
E-waste
Please note there may be costs for collection of e-waste depending on the type and volume of items. - please check with the service provider.
The TechCollect NZ website provides a list of locations where you can drop off electronic waste from from a variety of technological devices including personal computers, laptops, mobile phones, cables, printers and cameras.
Echotech has several drop-off locations in the North Island (check individual sites for prices). A wide range of Items is accepted including computers, laptops and phones as well as whiteware, appliances and batteries (a full list is provided on the website).
Check with your local council which types of e-waste it can accept at your nearest transfer station or resource recovery centre.
LPG cylinders/gas bottles
Examples: BBQ, gas heater, caravan appliances
Recyclable? YES
It is essential that you dispose of used gas bottles safely as there are always residual fumes in the bottle even when it looks empty. A gas bottle in a general waste or recycling bin is a fire hazard and may explode when compacted in a collection truck.
45kg gas bottles are usually the property of the gas company who supplied them, so if you can, get in touch with the supplier who may be able to arrange a pick-up. Alternatively, many Council Transfer Stations or Resource Recovery Centres will accept gas bottles for recycling, however they will have limits on the number, type and size of gas bottles that they accept.
Waste oil
Recyclable? YES
Used oil can be a serious environmental hazard if it is dumped onto our land and allowed to pollute our soil, rivers and streams. Fortunately, used engine oil can be cleaned and re-used, and is therefore a valuable resource. Used engine oil is free to drop off at many locations throughout NZ.
Waste oil - general
Ask your local Council whether it accepts waste oil (engine oil, gearbox oil, hydraulic oil) at its Refuse Transfer Station / Resource Recovery Centre, whether there is any cost for disposal, and how each type of oil can be disposed of. For example, many centres will only accept up to 20 litres of each type of oil. Engine oil can generally be poured into a large holding tank but other types of oil would be classed as hazardous waste and can’t be put in the waste oil tank.
Engine oil
Many Supercheap Auto stores offer a free engine oil recycling service, for household quantities of used engine oil in sealed containers no larger than 10L (limit of 4 bottles per customer). Please note that brake fluid, power steering fluid and coolant are not accepted. Some Repco stores also accept used engine oil - ask your local Repco store for details.
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Handy hint: Keep your empty oil containers when doing an oil change so you can use these same containers to transport the old oil to a collection site. Do not use milk, soft drink or vegetable oil bottles for transporting engine oil as these containers are not sufficiently sturdy and leak-proof.
Chemicals
Recyclable? NO
Many chemicals used in the home, garden or garage are not recyclable, and must be safely disposed of. Contact your local Council for advice on disposal of the following household chemicals:
- herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers
- chemical cleaners such as Janola and bleach
- solvents, glues, non water-based paints
Paint
Resene stores will accept used paint through their PaintWise scheme (some paint will be donated to community projects, otherwise it will be safely disposed of). Please note that a small charge applies to collection of non-Resene branded products to offset costs. A small number of Mitre10 stores also participate in the Resene Paintwise scheme (see the Mitre10 website for details).
Dulux Trade Centres and some Guthrie Bowron stores accept leftover paint and packaging through the Dulux Paint Take Back Service (see the Dulux website for details of which items can and cannot be accepted). There is a small charge for non-Dulux group branded products.
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Ask your local Council whether they accept paint at their Refuse Transfer Station / Resource Recovery Centre, and note that there may be a limit on the quantity of paint they accept.
For general tips on reducing your environmental impact, Resene has a handy guide to paint clean-up and disposal.