E-Waste Recycling in Wānaka
Did you know that between 70 and 90 percent of the material in scrap computer equipment (by weight) is potentially recyclable or reusable?
Wastebusters can take your electronic waste (e-waste) for recycling, including desktop computers, laptops, TVs, cellphones, printers, cables, mice, keyboards, modems and routers.
Why? Currently, there is no other way to cover the cost of the safe recycling of electronic waste. We keep this cost as low as we can and appreciate your understanding.
You will be charged a fee for these items (except cellphones) at drop off – see our current price list below.
Ultimately, Wastebusters would like to see the costs of recycling collected up-front when electronic items are sold. This is product stewardship and we have been advocating for it for years!
We believe this would solve the funding problems around electronic waste recycling and we’re stoked that e-waste was declared a priority product under the Waste Minimisation Act in 2020.
We are looking forward to the computer and TV industry taking responsibility for the waste they create, and for the cost of responsible recycling to be recognised as a cost of production. Until that happens, we will continue to do everything we can to keep electronic waste out of the landfill.
Computer equipment and cell-phones contain toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury. If put in a landfill, the metals can cause toxic leachate which could contaminate water and soil. The plastic casing and wiring of computer equipment can also contain hazardous materials such as brominated flame retardants. Nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries (such as those used in cellphones) contain toxic cadmium.
Computer equipment and cell-phones also contain valuable metals, such as copper, platinum and gold. Steel, aluminium, glass and some plastics can also be recycled. Between 70 and 90 percent of the material in scrap computer equipment (by weight) is potentially recyclable or reusable.
The e-waste dropped off to Wastebusters is sent to E-Cycle to be dismantled and separated into component or material categories. Some items (cabling, metals, unleaded glass) will be refurbished or recycled there. Other materials are sent off-shore (circuit boards, cartridges, batteries and plastic), because there is no option to process them in Aotearoa.
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!
