Last weekend we celebrated a very special milestone – Wastebusters turned 25! It was a super wholesome day with our team (past and present), our founders, our whānau of supporters, and the wider community all coming together to mark this moment.
For us, turning 25 isn’t just about looking back, it’s about celebrating everyone who has ever been part of the Wastebusters journey – from the founders and community who rolled up their sleeves to build our first shop, to the thousands of people who’ve recycled, donated, shopped, volunteered and supported us over the years. This milestone truly belongs to all of you too.
The day was also about looking forward. We were absolutely stoked to receive a Letter of Intent from Queenstown Lakes District Council, signalling their commitment to work alongside us to secure more land at 189 Ballantyne Road. This is a huge step towards making Wastebusters 2.0 a reality – a new circular economy hub that will give us the space and tools to grow, tackle building waste, expand reuse, make repair and upcycling accessible, and create more opportunities for community connection.
When presenting the Letter, Mayor Glen Lewers told us:
“QLDC is committed to working with Wastebusters as a strategic partner to expand their role in waste minimisation and acknowledges the challenges of growth and the need for more space and infrastructure to continue this important mahi.”
He also highlighted what makes us tick:
“Wastebusters is not just about waste diversion, it’s about people. They provide local jobs, affordable goods, and learning opportunities that strengthen community wellbeing and resilience.”
The recognition means a lot to us, and it’s an exciting sign of the shared vision we have with Council for the next chapter of our mahi.
It was really special to have some of our founding members there too. Rachel Brown shared stories of our scrappy beginnings – back when you might strike gold at the unofficial dump sites dotted around the district if you were lucky – and she was joined by fellow co-founders Jo McArthur, Margret Balogh, Jude Battson and Steve Maluschnig. Together, with the support of 200 locals, they helped construct the reuse shop building that’s still the heart of Wastebusters today.
We also took the chance to recognise some of our long-serving team members – ‘Dad’ aka Matthew aka Bif Smith, ‘Grandad’ aka Jeremy aka Bis Bisson, and our incredible bailer Bruce Shanks. Their years of dedication have been a huge part of the Wasties’ story, and it was great to celebrate them on the day.
Throughout the day we invited everyone to share their ideas on a vision board for Wastebusters 2.0. The ideas and dreams that came through showed us how excited people are about this next chapter. And don’t worry – we’ll always keep the things that make Wasties the place we all love to hang out: the nooks and crannies, the colour, the bargains, the music and, of course, our incredible team.
This celebration wasn’t just about looking back – it was about the next 25 years. Wastebusters 2.0 will be our region’s next big leap towards a thriving circular economy, and we’d love you to be part of it.
You can add your name to the list of supporters and stay in the loop about what’s next for Wastebusters 2.0. Together, we can make the next chapter even bigger, brighter and more impactful.
This year our amazing Wastebusters whānau has been busy keeping everything we can out of landfill and supporting resourcefulness in our community while also working on bringing our dream of Wastebusters 2.0 into reality.
We were humbled and absolutely stoked to take home the Wānaka Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Supreme Business Award, along with the Community Contribution and Business Sustainability awards. This success was a powerful recognition of the dedicated mahi of our entire team, giving us huge confidence for the ambitious journey ahead.
We welcomed Aviette Musin on a fixed-term contract as our new Programme Manager for Wastebusters 2.0. Her expertise provided the dedicated, focused capacity needed to accelerate progress on this strategic goal.
Funding was secured through Queenstown Lakes Community Composting Project for the Compost Collect pilot, a joint venture with our neighbours Wānaka Greenwaste that will turn commercial food scraps into valuable compost, launching in 2026. We also intensified our focus on Construction and Demolition (C&D) materials, trialling diversion methodology and securing initial partnerships to divert waste from landfill. With our current site so space-constrained, we are extremely limited in the C&D materials which can be accepted for reuse, but this work will lay the groundwork for future diversion on a bigger site.
We made a compelling case to the Council for the necessary land expansion for Wastebusters 2.0 and prepared for the MfE Waste Minimisation Fund application process to support our expansion plans.
A continued focus for us this year has been on strengthening the Wastebusters whānau and ensuring we are equipped not just for the daily challenges, but for future growth. We continued to be a Living Wage employer, reflecting our commitment to the well-being and value of our staff. Feedback from the team via staff survey results highlighted strong morale and resilience within our workplace culture with 89% saying they enjoy working at Wastebusters and 93% feeling cared for by their manager.
The district’s rapid growth brings challenges as well as opportunities, particularly the Ballantyne Road/Riverbank Road roadworks which demanded flexibility and good humour from our team and customers throughout 2024. Despite the road cones, ongoing community support ensured our Reuse Shop continued to be a first choice destination for both locals and visitors. Improved donation flows and adding new changing rooms has made the shop operation smoother and more efficient for everyone.
Wastebusters’ partnership with events continues to go from strength to strength: including the trial of a food scraps collection from vendors. And our Recycle team did the huge job of relabeling all our events recycling bins to align with national recycling colours, making it easier for event-goers to know what to do. Wastebusters recycling trucks continue to be a much-loved presence in town servicing our 408 business customers, with the team doing a great job of keeping our aging fleet serviceable, in line with our kaupapa of keeping resources in use for as long as possible.
Our Reduce team has continued to deliver exceptional impact, with more than 11,000 people engaged in person through our education and engagement in the community. The Resourceful Communities programme inspires our community to take action and builds the knowledge and know how to engage in areas like repair, low waste living and textile waste diversion. It is proudly supported by QLDC’s zero waste district’s programme which recognises the impact of community connection for zero waste action.
We were stoked to join Environment Hubs Aotearoa, and we look forward to collaborating with this network and amplifying our collective impact on environmental action and resourcefulness across Aotearoa.
We worked with an impact consultant to implement an evaluation framework and behaviour change model to better plan, deliver and measure our impact, and have begun rolling out our learnings across all our programmes.
It was a busy year in advocacy, starting with participation in QLDC’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan process. We appreciated QLDC’s approach in bringing Wastebusters and other stakeholders in early in the process, which has resulted in a constructive plan for the next six years. Wastebusters has also made submissions on national and local level, including The Right to Repair Bill, the Container Return Scheme and the publicly notified resource consent for McDonald’s in Wānaka.
Ultimately, this year has been about delivering impact while building the foundations for a much larger and even more impactful operation, securing Wastebusters’ future for our community. The heart of our work remains resource recovery and community engagement, and we enter the next 25 years of zero waste leadership with great confidence, welcome community support and an unwavering focus.
Gina Dempster
General Manager
November 2025
Let us know what you love & what we could do better & you’ll go into the draw to win a $250 restaurant voucher!