Nothing keeps a conscientious consumer awake at night like a used battery or a blown lightbulb, and the fear that someone less concerned in the household might toss such a thing in the landfill if they don't deal with it first.
So, to keep the community sleeping soundly we also provide a drop-off service for items that can be recycled but are not accepted in the kerbside recycling bins.
You can drop off most items at either of our locations during the following times:
Mon-Tues, 10am-2pm: EcoMatters Depot, Unit E, 489 Rosebank Road, Avondale
Wed-Sun, 10am-2pm: EcoMatters Store, 1 Olympic Place, New Lynn.
Please note there is a fee for certain items to cover our costs, and we can't accept some items at the Depot. Find out more below.
Batteries
We send our batteries to Abilities. We separate them into Alkaline and Non-alkaline (incl. Lithium or rechargeable). It would be great if you can do this before dropping them off.
Cost: Alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, 9 V) - $3.00 per kg
Cost: rechargable batteries (lithium, Nicad, Nimh, button etc)- $6.50 per kg
Lightbulbs
Interwaste collect the CFL light bulbs which contain harmful mercury. The bulbs are crushed into tiny pieces, then the different components separated. We can also accept LED and Incandescent bulbs.
Cost: $1 per light bulb. $3 per tube.
Toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes
At EcoMatters you can even drop off your old toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes!
Once we have a box full we then send them to Terracycle New Zealand. TerraCycle was founded in the States to recycle or up-cycle traditionally non- recyclable waste. If you go to their website you will find that the products they make from this waste (not currently available in NZ unfortunately).
FREE
Stainless steel razor blades
We are a collection point for stainless razor blades, used in safety razors (both are available to purchase at our EcoMatters Store).
We collect these in a can, and once full it is sent off to a metal recycler.
FREE
Writing instruments
We're a drop-off point for Terracycle's writing instrument recycling scheme.
If you’ve got any brand of pen, felt tip, highlighter, marker, empty correction fluid pots, correction tap, mechanical pencil and eraser pen, you can drop them in to us. We can’t take wooden pencils, crayons or chalk though.
FREE
Curtains
We collect donations of second-hand curtains, that are distributed to families in need via Vision West.
Full-length, lined curtains really help to keep homes warm, they make it easier to heat a home during winter, and that can result in less sickness!
We are delighted to provide the same gifting service in South Auckland, through our partnership with Habitat for Humanity who run the South Auckland Curtain Bank.
No mouldy curtains, blinds or rails please.
We can only accept curtains at the EcoMatters Store, 1 Olympic Place, New Lynn, Wed-Sun, 10am-2pm.
And don't forget we have a fantastic E-waste drop off service too!
Are you wanting to recycle something that's not on our list? Try searching Auckland Council's guide
