Source: Auckland Council
Aucklanders keep more than 1500 tonnes of materials out of landfill each year, on average, and give them a second home by using the inorganic collections service.
Residents book an on-property pick-up for their unwanted household items, which are sorted by collectors on collection day, and then accepted recoverable items are donated to community groups and charities.
150+ community groups in total have registered to benefit from these items. Common items are electronics, whiteware, and furniture, but a more complete list of what’s accepted as part of the service is online.
Councillor Richard Hills says, “Before the ‘booked’ inorganic service rolled out, people left materials on the kerbside to be picked up as rubbish. This resulted in lots of illegal dumping with rubbish and mess all over our neighbourhoods which led to health and safety issues for the public and collection workers. Aucklanders were sending all of those items to landfill this way each year, nothing was recycled.
“By using the on-property collection service, you have kept over 7,417 tonnes out of landfill and given those items a second life.
“This is the equivalent of 49 blue whales. Aucklanders are also keeping more than 5,200 tonnes out of landfill each year by dropping off items at Community Recycling Centres.”
How it works
Inorganic bookings for your neighbourhood close eight days before the relevant collection week. Pre-booking ensures the collector has permission to collect items from inside your property boundary and also means you can let the council know if there are any access issues on the property.
Collection piles can be up to a maximum of 1 cubic metre in size. The service is for items that don’t belong in your kerbside collection, so please don’t put your cardboard or excess rubbish or recycling in your inorganic pile. Concrete, porcelain, ceramics, and polystyrene also don’t belong in the inorganic collection.
There are three convenient ways to make bookings:
- Visit Auckland Council’s website to book online
- Call Auckland Council on 09 301 0101, or
- Stop by any service centre
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Don’t want to wait?
Sharing resources with your neighbours and re-homing your items as a household is still encouraged year-round.
There are many options for finding a new home for your stuff. You can post them on TradeMe, share them in your neighbourhood Facebook group, or donate them to an op-shop.
Also consider taking the items to a Transfer Station or a Community Recycling Centre. Many items are accepted for free at these facilities.
For things that plug in, you can arrange for an appliance or electronic waste recycler to come to pick up your items or you may be able to drop them off at their sites for free to be recycled.
It’s also possible to order a skip bin or private collection service.
Illegal dumping
Leaving unwanted items on the kerb or berm is illegal dumping, which will be investigated and fined.
There were 15 per cent fewer reports of illegal dumping in 2020, which is a good sign that more people are taking responsibility for their waste. There were 263 fines issued last year. Keep your waste on your property to avoid paying this penalty.
If you see dumped rubbish, get as much information as you can, and call it in to Auckland Council at 0800 NO DUMP (0800 663 867).
