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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:

  • Newspapers, magazines, advertising mail and envelopes
  • Paper and cardboard packaging
  • Egg cartons

Before you recycle

  • 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.

Items you cannot put in your recycling

  • 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.

​Recycling made easy

Recycling made easy - translated documents

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