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What you can put in your recycling

Items you can put in your recycling

Glass bottles and glass jars
Tin, steel and aluminium cans, including empty aerosols
Plastic bottles from your kitchen, bathroom and laundry
Clear plastic food containers
Pizza boxes (remove any leftover food)
Newspapers, magazines, advertising mail and envelopes
Paper and cardboard packaging
Egg cartons
Milk and juice cartons, including Tetra Pak ® cartons (except on Great Barrier Island)

If you live on Great Barrier Island, you need to bundle, bag and place these items next to your crate:

Rinse all containers.
Leave lids on all bottles and containers (except on Great Barrier Island: take lids off all bottles and put in your rubbish bag).
Containers should be no larger than 4 litres
Remove bubble wrap or plastic packaging from cardboard boxes - but tape and labels can remain.

Plastic bags - they get caught in the sorting machines
Food waste
Garden waste
Medical waste
Building waste
Chemicals and hazardous waste
Nappies and sanitary products
Polystyrene takeaway containers and polystyrene meat trays
Clothing, shoes and textiles
Cookware, Pyrex ® and drinking glasses
Window glass, mirror glass and light bulbs
Fluorescent tubes and lamps, including Compact Fluorescent Lamps - they contain toxic mercury
Electronic and electrical items
Batteries - lithium batteries can explode and have been known to cause fires in recycling trucks

To dispose of the above items, and to search for items not on this list, see How to get rid of unwanted items.

Our tip

For details on disposing of plastic grades 1-7, see Make the Most of Waste.

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