Refuse and Recycling Transfer Stations

We operate seven Refuse and Recycling Transfer Stations – at Thames, Coromandel Town, Matarangi, Whitianga, Tairua, Pāuanui and Whangamatā.

They're open to standard hours, seven days a week including most public holidays:

During daylight saving 24 September 2023 - 7 April 2024	Monday to Sunday, 8:30am - 5:30pm
Outside of daylight saving	Monday to Sunday, 8:30am - 4:30pm
Closed	Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday and until 1pm on Anzac day

What materials do transfer stations accept?

The following household materials are accepted at your local Refuse and Recycling Transfer Station.

General rubbish

• No cost for rubbish in the old Council pre-paid blue bags

Recycling (clean)

• Plastics containers 1, 2 & 5 (lids removed)
• Paper and cardboard
• Aluminium cans and tin cans
• Glass bottles and jars (lids removed)
• Soft plastics (clean)
• Domestic volumes of soft plastics recycling is available at Whangamatā, Whitianga, Thames and Tairua Refuse and Recycling Transfer Stations. 

Green waste

• Plant material from gardens.

The plant material listed below is not accepted:

X Stringy plants, noxious plants or weeds, and oversize branches (greater than 150mm diameter) e.g. ponga trees, agapanthus, flax, bamboo, ginger plant, gorse cuttings, box thorn, cabbage trees, yucca, ragwort, noxious weeds

X Green waste containing contaminates such as stones, concrete, plastic, weed matting or ornamental bark

Note that rejected green waste is charged at general waste rates and unloaded into general waste areas.

Hazardous waste materials

Household quantities (e.g. 20 litres of liquid or less, 5kg of powder or less) are accepted.

Please hand these items in at the transfer station for appropriate disposal - do not place them in the general rubbish pit.

• Aerosol cans
• Car batteries
• Dry cell batteries
• General household batteries
• Power tool batteries
• Button cell batteries
• Fire extinguishers
• Fluorescent tubes/energy-saving bulbs
• Used engine oils
• LPG bottles
• Old flares/EPIRBs
• Hazardous/chemical waste in domestic quantities, garden pesticides etc.
• Paint

Materials not accepted

X Clean fill, hard fill, trees, stumps etc.
X Offal, dead stock / large animals
X Bulk liquids
X Radioactive wastes
X Explosives
X PCB wastes
X Asbestos or products containing asbestos
X Fuel, more than 2 litres
X Timber lengths of 1.2 metres and over
X E-waste such as old computers, tablets and mobile phones. (The Seagull Centre in Thames will take these for a koha to help cover the cost of recycling them) 

For other items, such as old electronic goods, check outlocal resource recovery centres.

Fees and charges

Check out the fees and charges

Our Refuse Transfer Stations don't take cash for payment, but welcome Eftpos, debit and credit cards. Going cashless is helping us streamline our service and keep our team members and customers safe. 

Locations