Location: off Knight Road near the junction with Pipiwai Road
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Days and hours of operation (winter):
7:30am - 12:30pm (Tuesday and Thursday)
12:00pm - 5:00pm (Saturday and Sunday)
Closed (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)
Ruatangata transfer station is closed on Christmas Day and Good Friday.
Costs: Charges are based on the volume of rubbish being disposed. Recycling is free.
Some waste items like tyres, televisions and whiteware, have a special charge to cover the cost of appropriate disposal or recycling.
View the charges for rubbish disposal here:
Rubbish disposal fees
What waste can I take here?
General waste is accepted here by the bag, car boot load or trailer load. Save money by separating your recycling from your waste first.
Large loads of rubbish (for example truckloads or large skip bins) can't be accepted here. They can be taken to Re:Sort in central Whangarei.
Free recycling drop-off:
Glass: clean, unbroken glass bottles and jars - with lids removed (metal lids can go into metal recycling). Note: window glass, light bulbs, crystal, ceramics/pottery, drinking glasses, or broken glass is not suitable for recycling and should be disposed of as general waste.
Paper and cardboard: newspapers, magazines, junk mail, envelopes, flattened cardboard boxes, shoe boxes, cartons, old phone books. Note: plastic coated paper and card - for example, cardboard milk and juice containers is not suitable for recycling.
Plastic: plastics marked one, two and five.

Note: no plastic bags, or motor oil containers.
There are free soft plastic recycling bins at the Countdown stores at Tikipunga and Okara Drive. Soft plastic refers to grocery bags, bread bags, bubble wrap, plastic wrappers of products such as biscuits, chips, anything you buy that has a soft plastic sheath. You can find out more here: https://www.recycling.kiwi.nz/
Motor oil containers (including used oil) can be dropped off for free at Re:Sort Whangarei.
Metal: aluminium drink cans, clean foil plates, steel food cans, empty aerosol containers.
Vegetation: Vegetation is cheaper to dispose of than regular waste.
Read more about what vegetation is accepted:
Vegetation and garden clippings
E-Waste: We dispose of e-waste but there is a separate charge for each item.
There is a free e-waste recycling service run through Noel Leeming:
Free e-Waste service
What waste is not accepted here?
Hazardous waste: We do not accept hazardous waste like paint, chemicals, sprays and poisons, batteries and gas cylinders. There is a free monthly hazardous waste collection at Re:Sort.
Read more about what is classed as hazardous waste and when the collection days are:
Hazardous waste collection service
Waste oil: Waste oil can be dropped off for free in domestic quantities (i.e. a maximum of 20 litres at a time) at Re:Sort. The waste oil drop-off point is next to the recycling wall.