Summer 101 - Rubbish & Recycling

Find out what day to put your bins out over the holiday break and other tips for a low waste Christmas.

Quick links

Kerbside collection changes

arrow_forward

Facility hours

arrow_forward

Recycling 101

arrow_forward

Take care with batteries

arrow_forward

Low-Waste Christmas Tips

arrow_forward

Kerbside collection changes

There are no kerbside bin collections on Christmas Day and New Years Day.

This means your bins will be collected a day later than normal between 25-27 December 2025 and 1-3 January 2026.

If your usual collection day falls on: Your bin will be picked up on:
Thursday 25 December 2025 Friday 26 December
Friday 26 December 2025 Saturday 27 December
Thursday 1 January 2026 Friday 2 January 
Friday 2 January 2026 Saturday 3 January 

 

Transfer Station and public drop off hours

Transfer Stations:

Queenstown and Wānaka Transfer Stations will be closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day.

Public recycling drop off: 

The public recycling drop off on Glenda Drive will also be closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day. 

Rubbish and recycling 101 reminders

  • Put your bins out by 7.00am

  • Blue Glass Bin: Clean glass bottles and jars used for food and drink only. Lids, drinking glasses, ceramics, mirror, and window glass go in your red rubbish bin.

  • Yellow Mixed Bin: Clean plastic bottles, containers and trays marked 1, 2 and 5, aluminium and steel cans, cardboard, and paper.

  • Rubbish at remembering what bin to put out when? Sign up for weekly bin day reminders and public holiday alerts via text or email.

Take care with batteries

With the promise of new battery-operated gadgets and toys under the Christmas tree, remember to carefully recycle any used lithium-ion batteries with care.

Never toss batteries in kerbside and public bins, as they can spark fires in trucks, bins and at our facilities.

Recycle them with care via the Queenstown or Wānaka transfer stations

Low-waste Christmas tips

With the festive season upon us, here are our top tips for how to have a low-waste Christmas: 

  • Shopping second hand saves money and the planet! Get thrifting this Christmas and enjoy searching for the perfect gifts. 

  • When it comes to food, plan ahead and avoid panic buying. Get baking instead of buying. Check out Love Food, Hate Waste NZ for more tips on how to avoid food waste.

  • For alternatives to wrapping paper, use old newspapers, maps, crossword puzzles or brown bags you’ve amassed over the years. Why not try your hand at Furoshiki, the traditional Japanese wrapping in fabric like a scarf or t-shirt.  

  • And after it’s all over, and you are left with all that tricky Christmas packaging, here's what you can do with it: Bubble wrap (and other soft plastics) goes in the red rubbish bin, or take it to a soft plastic recycling station at participating stores. Polystyrene packaging can go in your red bin or you can take it to Mitre 10 Mega for recycling. To learn more about these and other alternative recycling options check out the A-Z directory.