If you are visiting Waiheke Island for a day trip or short holiday stay, plan ahead, bring minimal packaging with you, choose reusable containers, pack in, pack out, and leave nothing behind.

All rubbish and recyclables disposed of on Waiheke Island have to be transported back to the Auckland isthmus and sent to landfill or to the recycling processing facility, so it is a great help when day trippers and short-term holidaymakers take their waste away with them.

If you must dispose of waste while visiting the island, here's what you need to know:

• Visitors should use roadside rubbish and recycling collection services, drop off household waste and recyclables to the Community Resource Recovery Park (CRRP), or take their waste away and dispose of it responsibly on the mainland through kerbside rubbish and recycling collection services.
• If you are unable to get to the CRRP during opening hours and are not on the island for collection day, After Hours Visitor Waste Bins are located at the CRRP and are available for use from 4:30pm to 8am daily and will be available for use on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Please ensure you place your rubbish into an official pre-paid council rubbish bag before using this facility, and sort your recycling into the bin provided to help minimise waste to landfill.
• The public place litter and recycling bins situated by the toilet block at Big Oneroa were removed due to health and safety concerns caused by low-overhanging power lines. 
• There are no Throw ‘N’ Go bins at Matiatia Wharf or Kennedy Point. 

Roadside rubbish collection

• Use the weekly roadside rubbish collection service for council rubbish bags or wheelie bins (if available at your accommodation) – place out before 7am on collection day.
• You can buy 60-litre council bags from the Waiheke Island service centre in Ostend from Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm, currently at a cost of $6.00 each.
• 60-litre council rubbish bags may also be available for purchase from local retail outlets (prices may vary):
• Countdown
• Four Square

Roadside recycling collection

• Use the 240-litre recycling wheelie bin (if available at your accommodation) to recycle household containers from your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry, as well as paper and cardboard.
• Recycling collections take place every second week.  Place your recycling bin out on the roadside before 7am on your collection day.
• Household containers made from plastic, glass, aluminium, and steel as well as paper and cardboard can be added individually to the co-mingled recycling bin. 
• Please empty and rinse all containers before placing them in the bin.
• Soft plastic waste cannot be recycled in your roadside recycling bin. Soft plastic waste includes soft plastic bags such as bread bags, frozen food bags, toilet paper packaging, confectionery and biscuit wrap, chip bags, pasta and rice bags, courier envelopes, sanitary hygiene packaging, squeeze pouches and basically anything made of soft plastic which can be scrunched into a ball. You can dispose of soft plastics through collection points for the Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme, including Countdown Waiheke Island.

Private waste collection services

Private waste collection services are available from other companies outside of these council service operating hours. You can arrange a private waste collection, at your cost.