- Services
- Rates & Property
-
Rubbish & Recycling
- How we recycle in the Queenstown Lakes District
- Cut your waste
- Commercial Services
- Rubbish & Recycling Collection
- Recycling Centres
- Transfer Stations
- Solid Waste Assessment
- Waste Minimisation Community Fund
- Waste Minimisation for Businesses
- Zero Waste Events
- Green and food waste
- Construction and demolition waste
- Building Services
- Resource Consents
- Environmental Health
- Transport and Parking
- Alcohol Licensing
- Animal Control
- Airports
- Environment and Sustainability
- Water Services
- Cemeteries
- Services A - Z
- Summer Services
- CCTV - Public Use
- Permits
Green and Food Waste
Information regarding how we deal with Green and Food Waste in the district.
Quick links
Sending organic waste (like food and garden material) to landfills is bad for the environment, as it creates greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change, while taking up lots of space.
Right now, in Queenstown Lakes District and neighbouring districts, there isn’t a facility to process this kind of waste. That means we can’t start collecting food and certain garden waste yet because there’s nowhere to take it. Once we have access to a proper facility, QLDC will start picking up food and/or garden waste from households.
Until then, we want to encourage folks to compost at home, turning food scraps and garden waste into nutrient-rich soil. QLDC offers discounts on composting tools like bokashi bins and worm farms, and fund workshops on how to use them. See Food Waste below for more info.
When it comes to green waste (like garden stuff), we can't accept everything at the transfer stations due to current processing limitations. Here’s why:
-
Stringy plants like cabbage trees and flaxes can tangle up and break the machines that turn waste into mulch.
-
Weeds, plants with seeds or noxious and invasive plants like gorse and broom could spread to our parks and reserves when we apply the mulch.
-
Grass clippings and leaves often contain harmful herbicides and break down too fast.
-
Wood or timber often contains chemicals, so it can’t be used either.
Until we have access to an organics processing facility, we encourage the community to continue their efforts to reduce waste and compost at home when possible.
Green Waste
-
What's accepted:
Hedge trimmings and tree branches up to 400mm in diameter and small tree stumps. This waste is then chipped and reused in the district on parks and reserves.
Cost: click here.
What's not accepted?
Broom, gorse, flax, cabbage trees, grasses (including lawn clippings), leaves, weeds, sawdust, timber off-cuts, crates, wood packaging or gib board
These items will be charged as rubbish and disposed of at the landfill.
Close -
What's accepted:
Hedge trimmings and tree branches up to 400mm in diameter and small tree stumps. This waste is then chipped and reused in the district on parks and reserves.
Cost: click here.
What's not accepted?
Broom, gorse, flax, cabbage trees, grasses (including lawn clippings), leaves, weeds, sawdust, timber off-cuts, crates, wood packaging or gib board
These items will be charged as rubbish and disposed of at the landfill.
Close -
Wanaka Greenwaste and Landscaping Supplies is privately owned and operated and takes all manner of greenwaste, from tree and hedge clippings to weeds and general garden waste.
Please keep all cabbage tree, flax and grass clippings separated.
Location: Ballantyne Road
Hours: Monday - Sunday 10.00am - 3.00pm
Contact: 027 476 6034Also available onsite: Mulch, compost, bark and most landscaping supplies. Courtesy trailer available.
Close
Food Waste
-
Compost your unavoidable food scraps and green waste back into a reusable resources that will replenish your soil.
We fund the Dr Compost programme to help get you started. Local composting guru, Dr Compost, can help you discover which system could work best for you or help fine-tune your existing composting system.
You can get free advice from Dr Compost at events, workshops, or on Facebook. For more information visit the Dr Compost Facebook page or download the online resources. You can also email your questions to:
drcompost@wanakawastebusters.co.nz
Subsidised Bokashi Bins
Subsidised Bokashi Bins can be purchased at Council offices or Wanaka Wastebusters.
They can be purchased as a single unit or in sets of two at cost price (maximum of four buckets per person/business).
Single unit price - $28 inclusive of GST
Set of two price - $56 inclusive of GST (normally $112.00)
(Each bucket receives a free bag of compost zing as part of the cost).Bags of compost zing can also be purchased at cost price of $6.00 per bag inclusive of GST.
Please note that the subsidised price only applies to Queenstown Lakes residents and you will be required to provide contact details/proof of address on purchase.
Subsidised Worms
If you're keen to try worm farming, we subsidise the purchase of worms.
- $30 for 1kg / approximately 4,000 worms (normally $55).
There is a $10.00 courier charge (extra for rural delivery).
To purchase the worms get in touch with Jacqui at Central Wormworx (2024) Ltd, Cromwell.
Phone 021 132 2964 or email:
Close
wormworx1@gmail.com -
New Zealand families waste about $644 each year on food which is thrown uneaten into the rubbish bin. This adds up to a staggering $1.17 billion for the whole country.
That’s 157,398 tonnes of edible food going to landfill and generating greenhouse gases.
We're proud to be part of the national Love Food Hate Waste NZ campaign which aims to turn this around, by inspiring and enabling people to waste less food.
Tips for reducing food waste
Over 50% of New Zealanders say that planning efficiently helps them to reduce their food waste.
But let’s face it – life doesn’t always go as planned. That home cooked dinner on Thursday night turns into a catch-up with friends, and Friday takeaways? They’re practically a tradition. So stay flexible, and follow Love Food Hate Waste NZ’s Food Critic approved steps to proper meal planning.
1. STEP ONE: CHECK YOUR WEEK
It might feel like a drag at the start, but once you get going, you’ll form a habit of meal planning that will save you money and time! A few minutes checking who’s in and who’s out, what events you have on, and planning for flexible meals means you’ll gain hours back to do what makes you happy!
2. STEP TWO: CHECK WHAT YOU’VE GOT
Check what you’ve already got at home, use up what’s on that Eat Me First Shelf, and check the freezer for leftover meals that can turn into quick dishes on days you can’t be bothered cooking from scratch!
3. STEP THREE: CHOOSE YOUR MEALS
It’s rare for the week to go exactly as planned! Start small, and plan for three meals with room for takeaways and leftovers for the other nights. Never feel guilty about food going to waste again!
4. STEP FOUR: CREATE YOUR LIST
Write that list and take it with you. If you’re not much of a pen-to-paper type of person, take a look at meal planning apps that do the hard work for you!
By adopting these four simple steps, you’ll start seeing immediate benefits:
-
Time and Money Savings: With a list and plan in hand, you’ll avoid expensive last-minute takeaways or additional trips to the grocery store.
-
Peace of Mind: Knowing exactly what you’ll eat each week takes away the daily stress of figuring out meals, giving you more energy for other things.
-
Less Food Waste: Buying only what you need and eating everything you buy means fewer resources are wasted, helping reduce your environmental footprint and contributing to a healthier planet for future generations.
Download Love Food Hate Waste NZ’s FREE meal planner here and start saving money today!
For more practical tips on how to reduce your own food waste and save money visit the Love Food Haste Waste website.
Close -
Community Composting Project Hubs
To advance our strategic focus of diverting organic waste from landfill, Queenstown Lakes District Council secured co-funding from the Ministry for the Environment’s (MfE) Waste Minimisation Fund for the delivery of the Community Composting Project.
The focus of the project is to support the establishment of a network of Community Composting Hubs across the district, that will divert organic material, food scraps and garden waste, from landfill and turn it into a beneficial resource for use in community gardens, restoration projects, or to provide back to the community.
To date we have helped support four local community composting hubs via funding agreements - Grow Wanaka, Zero Waste Glenorchy, Waste to Wilderness and the Wanaka Community Composting and Worm Farm Project. Details on these hubs are as below.
-
Grow Wānaka is a circular model community garden and composting project operating since 2020. They divert organic waste away from landfill by accepting food scraps and limited greenwaste to convert into compost. The compost is then used to collectively grow organic produce. The produce is then shared with the volunteer team and surplus is distributed to the community.
Learn more here: HOME | Grow Wanaka | Wānaka Community Garden
Close -
Zero Waste Glenorchy operates a kerbside food scraps collection service for participating households and a drop off service for the local community, visitor and business sectors. The material received is processed into nutrient dense, beneficial compost material at the on-site composting facility. Participating households and businesses are able to receive the compost material for use in their garden and landscaping activities. The community hub also supplies compost to the Glenorchy Native Plant Nursery and the Headwaters for their on-site vegetable garden. The resulting produce is sold in the Mrs Woolly's General Store and used to showcase ‘garden to table’ produce at the Headwaters Lodge.
Learn more here: Zero Waste Glenorchy
Close -
The Waste to Wilderness project model charges for collection of food waste from commercial customers, primarily tourism-related businesses, to divert the organics waste from landfill, and use it to produce compost for the community at no cost. This is a pilot project aiming to divert up to 50 tonnes of food waste each month, mixing it with an equal amount of mulched brown organics to activate the hot compost process within skips.
Check out this short video showing the Waste to Wilderness process: Turning Waste Into A Valuable Resource
Learn more here: WastetoWilderness | Facebook
Close -
This project currently involves the collection of food waste from Wānaka busineses including Freshlink, Treble Cone, Dripping Bowl and local food truck operations. This food waste material is transported to Glendhu Station where it is composted for use on the station.
Close