RESOURCE RECOVERY CENTRE

THE DUMP, TIP, JUNK PILE, LANDFILL,
THESE ARE ALL COMMON NAMES FOR A RESOURCE RECOVERY CENTRE - AND ALL OF THEM ARE WRONG.

A resource recovery centre, or refuse transfer station, is where waste is taken to be repurposed, reused, recovered and recycled – all in the effort to reduce what is sent to landfill.

This is called resource recovery, where items are separated and recycled into new products, or repurposed, to divert waste from landfill. Whatever is leftover after this process is what we call waste and this is what ends up at landfill. You can find the Hamilton Resource Recovery Centre at 60 Lincoln Street, Frankton. 

Resource recovery is important to Hamilton City Council as it helps us meet our 2018-24 Waste Management and Waste Minimisation plan to help fight the landfill. It keeps our neighbourhoods clean and helps us create a healthier environment for future generations.

Over 500,000kgs of material taken to the Lincoln Street Resource Recovery Centre each month is diverted from landfill.
Up to 400 vehicles visit the Lincoln Street Resource Recovery Centre each day.
Batteries, electrical appliances, plastics 1,2 and 5, aluminium and cans, and white ware (fridges, dryers) can all be dropped off for free at the Resource Recovery Centre.

Fees paid at the gate enable our contractor to keep the Lincoln Street Resource Recovery Centre and Hamilton Organic Centre operating. Read more about the Government's Waste Levy increases and the full list of charges at both resource recovery centres.

What can I dispose of for free at the Lincoln Street Resource Recovery Centre?

Batteries from toys, cars, scooters, vapes, vacuum cleaners and appliances are stripped for metal and any liquid is sustainably disposed of.

Clean whiteware such as dryers, washing machines, fridges and freezers are stripped for metal and parts.

E-waste including TVs, computer monitors, hard drives, DVD players, toasters, etc are collected by Computer Recycling and sorted into two categories: reuse or recycle. Technicians refurbish and re-market what can be salvaged and anything not able to be refurbished is dismantled for parts.

Clean recycling such as plastics labelled 1, 2 and 5, aluminium, tin, paper and cardboard is sent for sorting and recycled into different products. Only plastics with a number 1, 2 and 5 are recyclable in New Zealand.

Plastic bottle top lids are sent to a repurposing plant and made into new products. Lids can fall through the conveyor belt during processing and cause damage to the sorting machines. We encourage people not to add them to kerbside bins. People can dispose of them for free at the Lincoln Street Resource Recovery Centre, where they will be collected and manually added to the recycling sorting process.

Metal lids from jars and wine and beer bottles are melted and repurposed.

Household hazardous waste such as paint, drain or oven cleaner, oil, pesticides and pool cleaners will be disposed of safely and sustainably. Please do not place these items into the rubbish and never pour them down the drain.

The Lincoln Street Habitat for Humanity Re-use Store takes selected items in working order and good condition, which can be dropped off for free and on-sold.


Items you cannot dispose of for free but have high demand for reuse

Construction and demolition waste

The fees for some building waste is reduced to support the separation and reuse of some of these materials, such as green waste, treated and untreated wood, concrete and cleanfill (soil).

What happens to these materials?

Green Waste is sent to Hampton Downs Landfill, where it is added to kerbside food scraps and broken down in the composting facility into Tronpost (the same as compost, but local).

Check out Tronpost

Concrete is processed in a concrete crusher and recycled into drainage and roading material, and builders mix.

Cleanfill is used for fill on construction sites.

Timber is sent to a facility in Auckland where nails, screws and other metals are separated. Timber is then sorted and fed into a large processing machine called The Beast. The Beast turns scrap timber (400,000kg an hour) into wood chips and is also used by a cement company as biofuel.