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. 

Council

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

Waste batteries in your general rubbish or household recycling can ignite and cause fires (lithium batteries are especially hazardous when compacted in the collection trucks). All types of batteries can leach harmful chemicals when compressed. Fortunately, there are now many collection centres in NZ which will receive used batteries and ensure they are responsibly disposed of or recycled. 

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). 

A range of batteries with terminals taped for safety

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

Used in cooking or heating

Examples: BBQ, gas heater, caravan appliances
Recyclable? YES

Waste oil

Used in lubricant

Example: from vehicles
Recyclable? YES

Chemicals

Garden use, household use, garage/DIY use

Example: herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers
Recyclable? NO

Example: Janola, bleaches, alkaline cleaners, acidic vinegars
Recyclable? NO

Example: solvents, glues, non water-based paints
Recyclable? NO

 

Households