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Specialist Recycling

At Sustainable Hawke’s Bay, we’re committed to making it easier for our community to recycle items that can’t go in your kerbside bin.
Our Zero Waste Hubs

Join the fight against waste!

Our Zero Waste Hubs in Hastings and Taradale are local drop-off points where you can bring a wide range of hard-to-recycle items – from batteries and bottle tops to oral care waste and candle wax.

Below, you’ll find a full list of what we do and don’t accept at our hubs, including any preparation instructions to make sure your items can be properly repurposed or recycled. If you’re unsure about something, feel free to get in touch or chat to our friendly team at the hub. Every item diverted from landfill makes a difference.

See our ‘What do we take‘ guide here. Note that Soft Plastic is not collected at our Taradale Zero Waste Hub.

Aluminium (bottle tops, cans and foil)
Did you know that recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy to turn into new products, compared to new aluminium? This infinitely recyclable material is your #1 go to when getting started in recycling.
 
What do we take?
    1. Aluminium Bottle Tops – Wine / olive oil bottle tops and pull tops (i.e., ginger beer)
    2. Aluminium Cans – Soft drink cans
    3. Aluminium Foil / Trays – Oven trays, foil wrap, aluminium blister packs (i.e., those that are completely silver)
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure all of your aluminium itms are cleaned, with food, drink etc. removed.
    2. When dropping off, sort them into three different streams, as they each have different processes.
What happens to the aluminium you drop off to us?
    1. Collected by Harris Scrap Metal and sold to be turned into new products.
Batteries contain harmful chemicals that if not disposed of correctly can leach into our environment and cause significant harm. By recycling you not only ensure these chemicals stay out of our waterways, but also that the components can be turned into new batteries.
 
What do we take?
    1. Household batteries, inc. AA, AAA, button, and from devices (i.e., cell phones, laptops, powertools, RT radios)
    2. Lead acid batteries
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure batteries are not damaged. Any damaged batteries should go to the Henderson Road Transfer Station to be recycled by Hastings District Council.
    2. Button Batteries – Tape them either in-store or at home, to reduce the chances of short-circuiting while transporting / storing.
What happens to the batteries you drop off to us?
    1. Household batteries – Sent via Hastings District Council to Phoenix Recycling. You can learn more about their recycling processes on their website.
    2. Lead acid batteries – Collected by Harris Scrap Metal with components sold in the open market.
Sustainable Hawke’s Bay collect candle wax on behalf of Hohepa Hawke’s Bay, who turn into the material ino fire starters that you can then buy as a fundraiser for their brilliant charity.
 
What do we take?
    1. All candle wax
What do we need from you?
    1. Remove the casing holding the candle, i.e., glass, plastic, aluminium.
    2. Handy tip, you can drop aluminium casings (i.e., tea light candles) into our aluminium foil recycling.
What happens to the candle wax you drop off to us?
    1. This is given to Hohepa Hawke’s Bay and turned into fire starters as a local fundraiser for their charity.
Sustainable Hawke’s Bay can collect your clean cling wrap, and zip-lock bags to save these going to landfill.
 
Keep in mind that a far better option is to avoid this unnecessary plastic in the first place, by using reusable containers and jars. Give it a try and see how easy it is!
 
What do we take?
    1. All clean cling wrap.
    2. All zip lock bags (i.e., Glad, dried food packaging)
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure the plastic is clean and dry.
What happens to the plastic you drop off to us?
    1. Material is sent to Terracycle where they are melted into plastic pallets to be turned into new products.
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With coffee pods use increasing due to convenience, you can now recycle these pods at our Zero Waste Hubs, with the coffee, aluminium and plastic all finding new uses. Want to take your sustainability a step further, then try avoiding coffee pods altogether, to save the materials from ever being used in the first place.
 
What do we take?
    1. Dolce Gusto – All pods
    2. Nespresso & Starbucks – Aluminium only
    3. All others aluminium pods (i.e., L’OR, Moccona, illy, Jed’s)
What do we need from you?
    1. You can leave the coffee in the pod or compost at your home / workplace.
    2. Pods must be mostly dry and free of mould.
    3. Separate into the three brand categories.
What happens to the coffee pods you drop off to us?
    1. Dolce Gusto – Recyled through Terracycle with coffee composted and aluminium and plastic recycled separately.
    2. Nespresso & Starbucks – Recycled in Wiri, Auckland, by Ecostock. Coffee grounds are turned into natural gas in Reporoa, Waikato, and aluminium is returned to the aluminium industry via Phoenix Recycling.
    3. All other aluminium pods – Recycled through Terracycle with coffee composted and aluminium turned melted to be turned into new products.

Sustainable Hawke’s Bay collect Colgate products to be recycled into new plastic products.
 
We encourage you to consider an even more sustainable option, i.e., trying a wooden tooth brush which is mostly compostable, or sustainable oral care products like Solid Care.
 
What do we take?
    1. Colgate products, inc. tooth paste tubes, tooth brushes (exc. wooden brushes), product packaging, tooth floss packaging (cannot take used tooth floss).
    2. We cannot take electronic tooth brushes. These should be taken to Henderson Road Transfer Station to be recycled by Hastings District Council.
What do we need from you?
    1. Tooth paste tubes – You can drop these off as is, you do not need to clean out the excess tooth paste.
    2. Tooth brushes – We can take all plastic tooth brushes and the head of wooden tooth brushes. The wooden handles can thrown under a tree or in your compost.
    3. Packaging – We can take all packaging that came with your Colgate products, but we encourage you to recycle cardboard kerbside which offer a more sustainable solution.
What happens to the material you drop off to us?
    1. All material is sent to Terracycle where the plastic components are turned into pellets and recycled into new products.
Sustainable Hawke’s Bay collect pre-loved jerseys and cardigans on behalf of a local women who turns these into mittens which are sold in Hawke’s Bay.
 
What do we take?
    1. Clean 100% wool, cashmere, merino jerseys and cardigans.
    2. Holes and runs are not a problem.
    3. We cannot take any other materials.
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure the material is clean and 100% wool, cashmere or merino.
What happens to the material you drop off to us?
    1. They are collected by local resident Alex Tylee and turned into mittens which are sold in Hawke’s Bay.

Did you know that most metal items can be recycled fairly easily? While you can drop off items to the many scrap metal yards across Hawke’s Bay, Sustainable Hawke’s Bay offer handy collection points for small items that can fit into a wheelie bin. We then sell this material for a small sum to local scrap yards.

What do we take?
    1. Any metal items that can fit in our wheelie bins at the Zero Waste Hubs.
    2. Items range from beer bottle tops, to jar lids, oven trays, tools, old washing line wire, we’ve even had an old shot put!
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure the items are completely metallic, dry and do not have dangerous sharp edges.
    2. Items should be portable and able to fit inside a wheelie bin.
    3. For larger items, i.e., ovens, corrugated iron sheets, these can be dropped off to local metal recyclers who will often pay you a small sum of money.
What happens to the metal you drop off to us?
    1. Collected by Harris Scrap Metal and then sold to be turned into new products.
Sustainable Hawke’s Bay collect mobile phones, tablets and their chargers as a fundraiser for Sustainable Coastlines who work hard protecting oceans across the planet. Mobile phones contain over 20 different materials, including gold and silver! This is the only e-waste that we collect.
 
What do we take?
    1. Mobile phones, tablets and their chargers.
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure the batteries are not damaged, if they are then these should be taken to Henderson Road Transfer Station to be recycled with Hastings District Council.
    2. Ensure the device is turned off.
    3. If you’re able to we encourage you to factory reset the phones. If you’re not able to, no worries, our recycling partner does this.
What happens to the devices you drop off to us?
    1. All phones are sent to RE:Mobile who share profits with charity Sustainable Coastlines. Depending on the quality of phones, they go through one of two processes:
      • Refurbishment – Factory reset and sold as second-hand mobiles in places such as Hong Kong, China and Eastern Europe.
      • Recycled – Broken down with over 95% of the phone recycled.
Sustainable Hawke’s Bay collecting plastic #2 and #5 lids and other items at our Zero Waste Hubs where the material is saved from landfill and turned into new items, and saves new plastic being created.
 
What do we take?
    1. Any Plastic #2 and #5 products provided they are completely that plastic type. If there are multiple plastic types, or non-plastic material then it is not recyclable.
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure all plastic is clean and dry.
    2. Ensure the plastic is in-fact #2 – HDPE or #5 – PP.
    3. Separate it into it’s type and colour in our Zero Waste Hubs.
What happens to the plastic you drop off to us?
    1. All plastic is dropped-off to local recycling company Bin Hire, who shred the material and sell to local and international markets to be turned into new items.
Sustainable HB collect non-electronic razors and their packaging for the Gillette funded razor programme. Razors of all brands are collected with materials separated and used to create new products.
 
What do we take?
    1. All non-electronic razors.
    2. All razor packaging. Handy tip, we encourage you to instead recycle any cardboard material kerbside which is a more sustainable solution.
    3. Electronic razors should be taken to Henderson Road Transfer Station to be recycled by Hastings District Council.
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure the razors are dry and placed carefully into our collection bins.
What happens to the razors you drop off to us?
    1. Razors are sent to Terracycle where metal and plastic is separated and sent to different recycling schemes to be turned into new products.

Sustainable Hawke’s Bay support a local Hastings community member who created the regions first Silica Desiccant Packet recycling scheme, with silica used to keep 3D printing filament dry.
 
What do we take?
    1. All silica dessicant packets.
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure the packets are not split with the silica still contained in their packet.
What happens to the packets you drop off to us?
    1. They are collected by a Hastings local to be used to keep 3D printer filaments dry. When the material has absorbed enough moisture, they are heater so the moisture evaporates off and can be re-used.
Sustainable Hawke’s Bay collect food grade Silicone which is being collected prior to the launch of a new national recycling programme.
 
What do we take?
    1. Clean silicone with no attachments (i.e., wood, metal), thicker than 1cm (i.e., no baking mats and swim caps).
What do we need from you?
    1. Ensure the silicone is clean, does not contain any non-silicone components and is thicker than 1cm.
What happens to the material you drop off to us?
    1. It is sent to Nil Products who are in the process of developing a new recycling scheme for silicone in New Zealand. They have not yet determined the products that they will create. 
Sustainable Hawke’s Bay collect a large quantity of soft plastic through our Hastings Zero Waste Hub.
 
Importantly, we strongly recommend that rather than continuing to utilise single-use plastic, you consider how to cut the plastic from your life, by shopping at bulk stores and identifying sustainable alternatives. This scheme is a clear down-cycle with the material not able to be recycled at the end of it’s next life.
 
Note – Soft Plastic is not accepted at our Taradale Zero Waste Hub.
 
What do we take?
    1. All clean soft plastic, including chip packets, toilet paper wrappers, muesli bar wrappers, bubble wrap, plastic bags, and many other products. If in doubt, ask our team.
What do we need from you?
    1. Soft plastic must be clean and dry or it risks the entire load of plastic being sent to landfill.
    2. Only contain plastic, i.e., cannot take products like soup packets that are half plastic and half paper.
What happens to the batteries you drop off to us?
    1. Soft plastic is recycled through the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme and often turned into fence posts through Future Post.
Write Up
 
What do we take?
    1. All Tetrapak products, inc. long-life milk, juice, breakfast smoothies.
What do we need from you?
    1. Fully cut open the tetra pak so it is completely flat.
    2. Wash out and remaining drink, this is critical to ensure the end product doesn’t smell of rotten milk.
    3. Keep the lid on, and the lid becomes the ‘glue’ the holds the final product together.
    4. Drop-off to us once dry.
What happens to the TetraPaks you drop off to us?
    1. All TetraPaks are sent to Hamilton-based company saveBOARD who turn the product into new building materials.
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Email us at
info@sustainablehb.org.nz