When you donate to Wastebusters, you’re doing more than clearing some space. Your donations help keep useful things circulating in our community, make everyday items more affordable and generate income that helps fund our wider community mahi.
From couches and ski gear to kitchenware, books, toys and the occasional pair of disco roller skates, we see all sorts come through our donation lane.
Bring your donations to the Wastebusters drop off area and check in with our friendly team when you arrive.
Because our space and capacity can change, there may be times when we need to temporarily pause accepting certain items – particularly larger furniture, building materials or things we already have plenty of.
If you’re unsure about something, it’s always worth checking with us and giving us a call before loading up the car.
*Our donation lane is open 9am – 5pm, 7 days a week, but always try to get there at least 15 minutes before closing so that we have time to help you with your donations.
We love donations that are clean, safe, complete, working and ready for someone else to use.
A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself: Would I feel comfortable giving this to a friend or family member?
If the answer is yes, there’s a good chance we’d love to see it.
Clothing and textiles are clean, freshly washed and free from stains, rips and holes.
Household items are clean and in good reusable condition.
Electrical items that work properly and have no loose or damaged wires.
Games, puzzles and toys are complete wherever possible.
Shoes, socks, gloves and other pairs are kept together.
Furniture is clean, safe and in a condition that someone else would be happy to take home.
Sharp or breakable items are wrapped safely and clearly identified to our team.
Ever wondered what happens once you hand your stuff over to our team here at Wasties?
Wastebusters is a not-for-profit social enterprise with charitable status.
That means the money generated through our reuse shops stays in our community, supporting Wastebusters.
Our Reuse operation helps us;
We know it can be disappointing to arrive with something and find out we can’t take those items you have loaded up to donate to us. Our donations team makes decisions based on whether an item is safe, reusable and likely to find another home, as well as how much space and processing capacity we have at the time.
We receive a huge volume of donations and unfortunately don’t have the facilities to wash, clean, repair or dispose of large amounts of unusable items.
Accepting things we can’t resell can create additional waste and costs for Wastebusters. Our capacity can also change throughout the year. Sometimes we simply have too many of a particular item or not enough safe space to store it.
Our crew works hard to make the best call they can so we can keep as much good stuff circulating in our community as possible.
We want to give everything that comes through our gates the best chance of finding a new home. There are some things we’re not able to accept for reuse, whether that’s because of safety, hygiene, limited space or because we don’t have a way to responsibly resell them.
Where we can, we’ll point you towards another option.
We’re legally required to meet certain safety standards, so if we can’t verify an item is safe, we can’t accept it. For each item, we’ve included a suitable alternative to help you find the best way to dispose of, recycle or rehome it instead.
Why we can't accept them
We can’t verify a car seat’s age, history or whether it has been involved in an accident, so we can’t safely resell it.
What you can do instead
Take it to the Wānaka Transfer Station, where car seats can be recycled. A $15 fee per seat applies.
Why we can't accept them
We’re unable to resell these children’s items due to health and safety requirements.
What you can do instead
If it’s safe and functioning, try selling or gifting it through Wānaka Mums and Bubs, Upper Clutha Trading Post or Free Only – Upper Clutha. If it’s broken, take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
We can’t tell whether a helmet has been damaged or involved in an accident, and helmets can also expire.
What you can do instead
If it’s functioning and you know its history, try selling or gifting it through Upper Clutha Trading Post or Free Only – Upper Clutha. If it’s expired, broken or damaged, take it to the transfer station or put it in your red rubbish bin at home.
Why we can't accept them
We can’t verify their history or guarantee they’ll perform safely when needed.
What you can do instead
If it’s functioning and you know its history, try selling or gifting it locally. Otherwise, take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
We’re unable to resell these due to safety requirements.
What you can do instead
If it’s functioning, try selling or gifting it locally. Otherwise, take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
We’re unable to resell electric blankets due to safety requirements.
What you can do instead
If it’s functioning, try selling or gifting it locally. Otherwise, take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
We can’t verify their age or condition well enough to confidently resell them.
What you can do instead
If it’s still in safe, usable condition, try gifting it locally. Otherwise, put it in your rubbish or take it to the transfer station.
We can’t accept the items below because they’re not in a condition where they can be safely or practically reused. This includes items that are broken, dirty, wet, soiled, unhygienic, badly stained, yellowed or significantly damaged.
For each item, we’ve included an alternative option to help you work out what to do with it instead.
Why we can't accept it
We don’t have the facilities or capacity to repair larger furniture before it goes out for sale.
What you can do instead
Repair it at home if you can, offer it for free through Free Only – Upper Clutha, or take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept it
We don’t have onsite washing or clothing repair facilities, and unfortunately we don’t currently have a way to recycle textiles.
What you can do instead
Mend it if you can, bring it to one of our repair events, or cut it up and use it as rags at home. If it’s beyond reuse, put it in your rubbish or take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept it
We don’t have facilities to dry or wash clothing and linen onsite.
What you can do instead
Dry it thoroughly and bring it back to us. If it’s no longer suitable for reuse, put it in your rubbish or take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept it
These aren’t suitable for resale, can affect other reusable items stored alongside them, and can create safety issues for our team when handling and sorting donations.
What you can do instead
Smaller items can go in your rubbish bin. Take larger items to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept it
We’re happy to accept clean pillows and duvets in good condition, but heavily worn or stained bedding isn’t suitable for resale.
What you can do instead
Put it in your rubbish or take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept it
Toys need to be safe, complete and ready for another child to use.
What you can do instead
If you can repair it at home, you’re welcome to bring it to us once it’s working again. If it can’t be repaired, put it in your red rubbish bin or take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept it
Electrical items need to pass our NZ electrical safety testing before we can resell them.
What you can do instead
Take them to the transfer station. Items that are at least 80% metal may be accepted through their scrap metal recycling.
We’d love to find a new home for everything, but some items simply don’t have a suitable reuse pathway through Wastebusters. This might be because of limited space, low demand, missing parts, resale requirements, or because we don’t have the facilities to safely store, sort or manage them.
For each item below, we’ve included an alternative option to help you find the best next step.
Why we can't accept them
These take up a lot of space and often arrive with faults or missing parts, so we don’t have a suitable resale pathway for them.
What you can do instead
If it works, try selling or gifting it locally. Otherwise, take it to the transfer station. Items that are at least 80% metal can be recycled there for a small fee as scrap metal.
Why we can't accept them
Items need to be complete and ready for their next owner. This includes things like single shoes, socks or gloves, puzzles or games with missing pieces, and items missing essential parts.
What you can do instead
If it can’t be completed, find another use for it at home where you can, otherwise, put it in your rubbish bin or take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
We’re unable to resell electrical items that don’t have a New Zealand plug.
What you can do instead
If it works, try selling or gifting it locally. Otherwise, take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
We’re unable to rehome used toilets for hygiene reasons.
What you can do instead
If it’s still usable, try selling or gifting it locally. Otherwise, take it to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
There’s very little demand for these and we don’t currently have another reuse or recycling pathway for them.
What you can do instead
Put them in your rubbish or take them to the transfer station.
Why we can't accept them
We can’t resell used underwear for hygiene reasons.
What you can do instead
Put it in your red landfill rubbish bin.
Why we can't accept it
We don’t have the space or facilities to safely store and manage leftover paint.
What you can do instead
If it's in its original packaging, take it to Dulux Paint Take Back at Guthrie Bowron For all other paint, take it to Resene Colourworkshop for recycling.
Why we can't accept it
We don’t have the capacity to sort and dismantle scrap metal onsite.
What you can do instead
Take it directly to the transfer station. Items that are at least 80% metal can be recycled through their scrap metal programme.
What you need to know
We can accept small camping gas canisters if they're more than half full. We can't accept empty or nearly empty canisters.
What you can do instead
Take empty or nearly empty canisters to the transfer station for recycling. A fee may apply.
What you need to know
We don't accept larger gas bottles or tanks. We don't have a resale programme for them, and many are expired.
What you can do instead
Take them to the transfer station, where they can be recycled for a fee.
We do our best to accept reusable building and renovation items such as taps, door handles, sinks and other useful materials where we can. However, Wastebusters is primarily set up for community reuse rather than industrial-scale construction and demolition materials (at the moment). Larger items take up significant storage and processing space, so what we can accept depends on our capacity at the time.
Please check with our team before bringing larger quantities of building materials or large items to Wastebusters. This can save you a trip and helps our team manage the space we have available.
There’s a whole journey happening behind the scenes at Wastebusters. Have a read about how you can give your donations the best chance of another life – and the difference your good stuff can make.
A quick check can make things easier for everyone and if you’re unsure just give our team a quick call.
Clean? Working? Complete? Safe? Something you’d happily give to someone you know?
Perfect. Bring it down, and let’s see if we can find it a new home.
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!
