Wastebusters in Wanaka

About

Wanaka Wastebusters was set up by our community in 2000 with a mission to work towards zero waste in Wanaka and across the country.

Story

Wastebusters was set up in Wanaka by our community in 2000 with a mission to work towards zero waste in Wanaka and across the country. We run a recycling and reuse centre, and do education for sustainability work in schools and in the wider community, including the Dr Compost home composting programme. We campaign for zero waste including stopping using single use plastic bags and bottles, product stewardship, container deposit legislation and an end to ridiculous over-packaging.

Mission

Our Mission
We are a community owned enterprise, providing innovative resource recovery and education for sustainability solutions for our community and across New Zealand.

Our Vision
Going beyond the ordinary, we will be influential and self sustaining. We will provide meaningful jobs as we work together towards zero waste.

Impressum

Wanaka Wastebusters Ltd
Has charitable status

Corner Riverbank and Ballantyne Rd

[email protected]
(03) 443 8606

Products

Reduce:
Deliver Education for Sustainability in schools funded by Queenstown Lakes District Council: Enviroschools and EERST zero-waste programmes.
Deliver Dr Compost home-composting education funded by Queenstown Lakes District Council.
Run the Unpackit Awards since 2010 to reduce packaging going to landifll.
Advocate for product stewardship, starting with electronic waste.

Reuse:
We sell second-hand goods that have been donated to us: clothes, crockery, books, games, safety-tested small appliances, curtains, trinkets, treasures, sports gear, skis and snowboards, beds, bikes, plant pots, gardening stuff, demolition material, carpet, metal odds and ends, doors, timber and more.

Recycle:
We can recycle anything that you normally put out for kerbside recycling: glass, plastics 1-7, cardboard, paper, aluminium and tin cans. We can also recycle clean polystyrene, shrink wrap, used veggie oil, engine oil, cell phones, computers, large appliances (eg dishwashers and ovens, but not fridges/freezers), scrap metal, eco-bulbs and ink cartridges. A small charge applies for electronic waste and large appliances to help cover the recycling costs.

"Wastebusters runs two op shops full of awesome secondhand treasures, one each in Wānaka and Alexandra. They are the heart of our zero waste hubs which keep resources in circulation through reuse and recycling. Our hubs are places of connection and education for our communities, inspiring them to join us in the journey to zero waste.We are a social enterprise which employs over 70 employees in our reduce, reuse and recycle teams. We have charitable status from the Charities Commission, recognising our not-for-profit model which returns all surplus earned through our resource recovery and education services back into zero waste impact for our communities."