You may have seen the news about the latest nation-wide recycling standards. These are coming into force from February 1 to help make it easy for people to recycle no matter where they are in the country. Every Council is following suit, and aligning their kerbside collection requirements.

Good news Matamata-Piako – we are already doing it! The changes we made to kerbside collections last year aligned with the new government regulations, so you’re ahead of the game. We knew these rules were coming and wanted to make the transition as easy as possible.

Here are a couple of things that you may not know: pizza boxes can go in your yellow bin but, like all recycling, they need to be cleaned out first. Any food left in the box will contaminate the cardboard, and mean it’s sent to landfill. Also, aerosols cans (steel and aluminium) must go in the rubbish bin, they can not be recycled. This is because they pose a safety hazard when compacted - they can explode or catch fire!

Over the years, what can go into recycling bins has changed, so if you have an old recycling bin the information on the lid may be outdated. To see more about the new guidelines and what can be recycled click here.