Bin got tagged?

It is important that recyclable items are in the right condition and placed in the right bins to avoid contamination. The contents of all recycling bins go to our materials recovery facility to be separated into different materials. If the wrong materials are placed in the recycling bins, this can cause big headaches for our machinery and the people that operate it.

For example:

• A battery in your recycling bin can cause a fire in the truck, creating danger for our driver and road users.

• Liquid inside your plastic bottles turns paper into paste in truck, sending it to landfill instead of being recycled.

• Small plastic items like lids are too small to be put through our machinery. They can get caught and stop the processing of all recyclable material until a technician can fix it.

The job of the bin inspector is to stop these things from happening before they become big headaches.

If a bin inspector has checked out your recycling, they’ll place a tag/sticker on your bin.

A green sticker means everything in your bin was recyclable – well done! An orange tag means there were some non-recyclable items in your bin. Your bin was still collected, but please double-check what goes where. A red tag means there were non-recyclable items in your bin, so it wasn’t collected. Remove non-recyclable items and place the bin out again on its next collection cycle or drop off recyclables for free to the Lincoln St Resource Recovery Centre.

If you’re not sure about what items go where, use our item sorter or get in contact with us to ask.

To encourage correct behaviour, Hamilton City Council has a “three strikes in three months” rule for red tags.

• Strike 1 – A red tag is placed on your bin.

• Strike 2 – Another red tag is placed on your bin and a letter posted to the address as well as the property owner (if different).

• Strike 3 – A final red tag is placed on your bin and we may suspend your kerbside collection service and confiscate your bin/s. If this happens, a letter will be posted to the address as well as the property owner (if different).

Sign up to one of our one hour free Recycle Right workshops, where you can learn what to do, practice the right behaviour and ask any questions. We encourage you to bring along as many members of the household as possible to ensure everyone understands the right thing to do.

Book into a Recycle Right workshop here

If you would like to participate in a workshop but face travel, mobility or language barriers, please reach out to us before booking into a workshop.

Your bin service will be suspended for three months.

Once three months has passed, you can apply to have your bin returned. You will need to pay to have the service reinstated.

To have your bin returned and the service reinstated, please contact the rubbish and recycling team on 07 838 6699 or email info@hcc.govt.nz. 

The fee will need to be paid either at the front counter at 260 Anglesea Street, Hamilton, or an invoice will be created. 

We will need to receive payment prior to delivering the bin and recommencing the service.

If you attend a Recycle Right workshop, you can get their bin returned free of charge.