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. Unofficial bags of rubbish (60 litre capacity) cost $5 to dispose of. Unofficial bags of rubbish 20 litre in size cost $2 to dispose of.  

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. 

Scrap metal & whiteware

Car bodies and tyres

Green waste

Plant material from gardens

General plant material from your garden is accepted.

However, plant material listed below is not accepted:

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
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

 Clean fill, hard fill, trees, stumps etc.
 Offal, dead stock / large animals
Bulk liquids
Radioactive wastes
Explosives
PCB wastes
Asbestos or products containing asbestos
 Fuel, more than 2 litres
 Timber lengths of 1.2 metres and over
 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 out local resource recovery centres.

Fees and charges

Check out the fees and charges

Please note: The following RTS sites have weighbridges: Thames, Whitianga, Whangamatā and Tairua. These sites have no weighbridges: Coromandel Town, Matarangi and Pāuanui.

There is no charge for rubbish in the old Council pre-paid blue bags. Unofficial bags of rubbish (60-litre capacity) cost $5 to dispose of. Unofficial bags of rubbish 20-litre in size cost $2 to dispose of.

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