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Kerbside collections

Stratford District Council provides a kerbside rubbish and recycling service for urban residents in Stratford and Midhirst. This includes a general waste collection (red-lid bin), glass collection (blue crate), and a mixed recycling collection (yellow or green lid bin).

General waste is collected every week for all eligible residents and there are 2 collection areas that cover the fortnightly glass and mixed recycling collections on alternate weeks.

Rubbish and recycling collection has changed across the country

On 1 February 2024, government mandated changes to standardise recycling across Aotearoa, New Zealand came into effect. No matter where you go, you'll now be able to recycle exactly the same things in your kerbside recycling bins. The changes are designed to encourage recycling, divert waste from landfill, and enable better collection and reporting of waste data.

So, what has changed for us? There isn't much of a difference in Stratford district resident's recycling dos and don’ts. The main change is that aerosol cans now need to go into the red-lid bin for general waste as they're no longer recyclable.

If you've got questions, please email WasteMinimisation@Stratford.govt.nz or call 06 765 6099.

Mixed recycling

Your large yellow-lid bin is for recycling. Some people may have a green-lid bin and this is for recycling too.

In your mixed recycling bin you can only put:

  • Paper and cardboard bigger than an A4 sheet of paper, including pizza boxes cleaned of food scraps
  • Washed plastic bottles (with lids removed and put into your red-lid rubbish bin)
  • Trays and containers larger than 10cm x 10cm and marked with recycling symbols 1, 2, and 5
  • Washed aluminium and steel tins and cans with lids inside the can.

General waste

This bin is for your general waste, including all aerosol cans, green waste like weeds and lawn clippings, and wrapped broken glass. What you put in this bin will go to landfill.

There are things you can't put in your red-lid bin, including:

  • Hot ashes and liquids
  • Batteries - please take these to the Stratford Transfer Station or check to see which businesses recycle batteries in your area

We collect your red-lid bin from Areas A and B every Monday. Your bin should be placed at the road side by 7.30am on the morning of your collection day with the wheels facing the house. Public holidays do not disrupt council collection services.

Glass recycling

Your blue crate is for glass recycling.

In your blue bin, you can only recycle:

  • Washed glass bottles and jars (no lids please - these go into your red-lid bin)

Glass recycling is sorted by hand before it's put into the truck. For the safety of our team, please don't put broken glass in your blue bin. Instead, wrap the broken glass and put it in your red-lid bin. Thanks for helping to keep our team safe!

When putting out your bins

  • Place them side by side (not one behind the other) to make it easy for our collection-truck drivers to empty your bins
  • The side of your bin that has the wheels should face towards your house
  • Ideally, your bins should be 1 metre apart
  • If you know which way the truck comes down your street, place your smallest bin so it'll be the first to be picked up

Kerbside collection areas and schedules

Want to receive rubbish and recycling reminders, and important updates on collections? Download our free Antenno app, set your address, and we'll remind you when to put your bins out and more!

Download Antenno

FAQs for kerbside collections

Rubbish and recycling collection runs from 7.30am until 6pm Mondays.

Please have your bins out by 7.30am or you may miss the collection. If your bins haven’t been emptied by 6pm, keep them out for a little longer in case the driver’s running late.

If your bin hasn’t been collected, please let us know on Tuesday morning.

We’ll arrange for your bins to be emptied on Wednesday, which is our contractor’s day for re-collection. All you need to do is call us on 06 765 6099 or make a report on the Antenno app on Tuesday morning. It’s best to call or use Antenno (as opposed to social media) as then your request will go straight through to someone who can log your info and arrange the re-collection.

Need a new bin or a replacement part?

Give us a call on 06 765 6099 and we can arrange this for you. Replacements and repairs are done on a Friday.

Over time we'll change the colour of people's recycling bin lids from green to yellow. This provides consistency with our neighbouring districts and helps our truck drivers to easily identify which bins to empty.

If people’s green recycling bin lids are in good condition, we’ll place a yellow sticker on it. That helps us keep our costs down while still making it easy for the truck drivers to identify people’s recycling bins.

When green lids get broken and we can’t repair them, we’ll replace them with a new yellow lid. Eventually, as lids and bins get broken and replaced, all recycling bins will have the yellow lids. If your lid or bin ever breaks, call us on 06 765 6099 and we’ll get it sorted for you.

If you’ve got a really old bin, it may have a sticker on it that has outdated info about what can and can’t be recycled. The most up-to-date list of what can go in your landfill and recycling bins is on this page.

Type your item in our search bar on our website at Stratford.govt.nz/Recycle to find out if it can be recycled, or if it’s destined for your red-lid landfill bin.

Our waste contractor is going to change in October

The three Taranaki district councils are changing to a new rubbish and recycling contractor in October 2024. There’ll be a lot of advantages to our new contract, including new collection trucks and better recycling auditing at the kerb. Most people won’t need to do anything to get ready for these changes, but we’ll continue to provide updates on the move throughout the year.

Recycling contamination and bin audits

Contamination of kerbside recycling is a big issue for Stratford and all of Taranaki. Nearly a quarter of the district’s items going into the yellow or green lid recycling bins either can’t be recycled, or aren't being cleaned properly and are contaminating good recyclables.

All of Stratford’s recycling is transported to the Materials Recovery Facility in New Plymouth where processors sort it into different categories. Contaminated recycling can affect a large amount of good recycling, which then needs to be sent to landfill.

To help combat contamination, we've introduced a system where repeat offenders will have their kerbside collection recycling service suspended. Kerbside recycling bins are regularly audited and tagged with a green, amber, or red tag.

  • A green tag means you’re a recycling superstar.
  • An amber tag means there were a couple of things found in your bin that shouldn’t be there, but we recognise that you’re trying your best. We’ll let you know what those items are so you know for the future.
  • A red tag means your bin is highly contaminated and will not be collected until the contamination is removed. If this happens, you’ll receive a follow-up letter from the Council. If you receive three red tags, your recycling service will be suspended for three months.
What can be recycled? Click here to find out...
Get rid of the lid campaign image
Covid-19 tests and masks belong in your red lid bin
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