Kerbside Collection Service
Awakino/Mōkau Transfer Station Open Hours
Kerbside collection for Awakino/Mōkau will not be available while SH3 remains closed.
For residents wishing to dispose of their rubbish and recycling, Awakino Transfer Station will be open from 10am Friday 24 April 2026 to 5pm on Monday 27 April 2026 (ANZAC Day Public Holiday)
Please note all other transfer stations in Waitomo District will be closed for the Monday public holiday.
Kerbside Collection Days & Times
We provide a weekly Kerbside Collection Service for the communities of Te Kūiti, Piopio, Mōkau/Awakino and Waitomo ward and Village.
Current collection days (until 30 June 2026)
Monday | Piopio, Mōkau/Awakino |
Tuesday | Waitomo ward and village |
Thursday | Te Kūiti ½ (Eastern side of Railway) |
Friday | Te Kūiti ½ (Western side of Railway) |
New collection days (from 31 July 2026)
Tuesday | Piopio, Mōkau/Awakino, Waitomo ward and village |
Thursday | Te Kūiti ½ (Eastern side of Railway) |
Friday | Te Kūiti ½ (Western side of Railway) |
Collection times
Put all bins and bags at the kerbside by 8am on your collection day. Leave them out until the end of the day, as collections can take place anytime between 8am and 5pm.
Use our Street Finder tool to find your day
Blue Refuse Bags
You can put out as many Council rubbish bags as you like.
Note: rubbish in unofficial bags will not be collected.
Blue rubbish bags can be purchased from:
Customer Service Centre at 160 Rora Street, Te Kūiti
Waitomo District Landfill and Waste Transfer Stations
Te Kūiti New World
Te Kūiti Super Value
Waitomo Caves Visitor Information Centre
Piopio Superette
Maniaiti/Benneydale Food Store
Whitebait Inn Mōkau
Patels Mini Market
Mōkau Museum and Gallery.
Guidelines for our official bags
Broken glass must be well wrapped in newspaper.
No hazardous waste.
Weight of full bag should not exceed 15kg.
Do not place sharp objects or hot ashes in the rubbish bag
Kerbside Recycling
Properties that receive the Kerbside Collection Service are provided with a blue recycling bin for recycling.
(Note - as of 1 July, you will have two bins, one for glass and one for all other recyclables).
What items can be recycled
Items marked as 1, 2 and 5 can be recycled. Such as:
clean paper, flattened cardboard and pizza boxes
clean cans and tins
plastics that have been cleaned and have the recycling triangle 1 , 2 or 5 on them, no lids please
empty, clean glass bottles and jars
Only this bin can be used for this service. The recycling bin is for residential quantities of recycling. Commercial volumes of recycling must be taken to the Landfill or Transfer Stations.
Commercial volume is defined as extra recycling that is in excess of the limit of what you can fit into your recycling bin on any given week.
Plastic items that cannot be recycled
Plastic Items with numbers 3, 4, 6, 7 printed inside a triangle will not be accepted.
Examples:
3 – some cracker trays
4 – some squeezy bottles
6 – small dairy pottles and tubs
7 – fresh pasta and deli packaging.
How Recycling gets Sorted
Did you know recycling is sorted twice??
It is sorted at the kerbside when your recycling is collected, and again at the material recovery facility.
It may look like your recycling is thrown in with your refuse bags, but this isn't the case - there are several compartments on the vehicle for refuse and recyclable items.
However, any recycling that is visibly contaminated may not be collected.
Contaminated Recycling
Putting the wrong items in your recycling bin can contaminate the entire truckload.
If those items pose a health and safety risk, the sorting facility may need to shut down for a full clean before work can continue. This takes significant time and cost — and often means the affected recycling is sent to landfill.
To help prevent this, we carry out bin audits. These help educate residents on what can and can’t be recycled, and identify common problem areas so we can target our education and community engagement efforts.
Most residents are doing the right thing — thank you. However, even small amounts of contamination from a few households can impact others and result in an entire load being rejected. It doesn’t take much to cause a problem.
Contact
For more information please phone Customer Services on 0800 932 4357, or email [email protected]