Welcome to the Wastebusters Help Centre.
We know there’s a lot going on at Wastebusters! From our reuse shop and donation drop-offs to Repair Revolution events and recycling services, we’re here to help you live more sustainably. We’ve pulled together our most commonly asked questions below so you can find the answers you need quickly.
Learn about Wastebusters, our not-for-profit mission, and how we support the Wānaka community through our zero waste hub and sustainable initiatives.
Wastebusters is a not-for-profit community enterprise with charitable status. We were set up back in 2000 by pioneering locals who wanted to do something positive for the environment and the Wānaka community. That community spirit is still at the heart of everything we do today.
As a community enterprise, we operate just like a business, but we work for impact, not for profit. Wastebusters has a team of 55 staff at our zero waste hub in Wānaka who are dedicated to fostering a circular economy, keeping resources in use and having fun at work.
Wastebusters is owned by the Friends of Wānaka Wastebusters Incorporated Society, whose executive committee oversees our long-term guiding principles and appoints our Board of Directors to watch over our strategic direction, financial health and zero waste impact.
Every coffee table, retro jacket, pair of skis and quirky little treasure sold at Wastebusters helps support the work we do in the Wānaka community.
Because we’re a registered charity, any surplus we make gets poured straight back into Wastebusters, helping support our community, our programmes, events, services, team, and all the weird and wonderful work we do to help build a more resilient, more resourceful, zero waste future. We’re also proud to be a Living Wage employer.
Our operations are entirely self funded through our shop sales, resource recovery services and business consultancy.
Some of our community engagement work, like our Resourceful Communities initiative, including Repair Revolution and Low Waste Living, is supported by funding from Queenstown Lakes District Council’s Zero Waste District Programme.
Together, this funding and income from our resource recovery services help us deliver education programmes, community events, and local initiatives that support a more resilient, resourceful future for our community.
Wastebusters is all about helping our community connect, learn, share skills, and take practical action for the environment in everyday life.
Through our reuse shop and front yard, we help make good quality secondhand items more affordable and accessible, while giving thousands of useful things a second life instead of sending them to landfill.
Each year, we support local not-for-profits, schools, early childhood centres and zero waste initiatives through our reuse sponsorship, helping provide the resources and supplies they need to do their important work in the community. Proceeds from our two annual Dollar Days are donated to other local charities, and we’re proud to donate vouchers to organisations like Community Link, who support local individuals and families.
We run programmes and events like Repair Revolution, Low Waste Living and Slow Fashion Month, which bring people together to learn practical skills, save money, repair things, reduce waste and rethink the way we consume.
For local events, we offer reusable crockery on a koha basis to help make low waste events easier and more accessible.
At the end of the day, Wastebusters is really about people. Whether it’s finding an affordable winter jacket, learning how to fix a toaster, donating goods, volunteering, or discovering your next favourite treasure, we’re here to help build a more resourceful, connected and low waste community together.
Find out what items we accept at our Wānaka second-hand shop, including donation hours, collection services for large furniture, and tips for quality reuse.
We’re always grateful for your good quality, reusable items that are clean, safe, and in working condition. We regularly accept:
The best donations are items that still have lots of life left in them and are ready to be loved by someone new. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself: “Would I happily give this to a friend?” If the answer is yes, there’s a good chance we’ll be able to take it too.
You can donate items during our opening hours, 9am to 5pm, seven days a week.
Simply drive into our reuse drop-off lane where you can show our friendly crew what you’ve brought along, and they’ll give you a hand unloading your reuse goods if needed.
If you’re after a quieter time to drop off, midweek mornings tend to be a little calmer.
Yes please, we don’t have the space or capacity to wash or clean items on site.
We really appreciate receiving freshly washed clothing, tidy homeware, and clean donations, as they help our team get great stuff back out into the community for someone else to enjoy.
We’re incredibly grateful for all the lovely donations our community brings us, but we do have to make sure every item is safe, working, and ready for its next home. Because of that, there are times we might not be able to accept certain items. This is often due to health and safety requirements, space constraints, the time of year or too much wear and tear.
We love that our community wants to keep stuff in circulation, so if there’s anything we can’t accept, we’ll let you know why and do our best to point you in the right direction for recycling or safe disposal.
If you’re ever unsure about an item, feel free to give us a call and chat to one of our friendly front yard crew before you come in.
Yes. We offer free pick ups for larger donations most Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
We can collect things like furniture and other bulky items. Just have a chat with our front yard or shop team and they’ll help get you booked in.
No, we can’t accept broken items at Wastebusters because we don’t have the capacity to repair items on site. For our team to be able to find a new home for your pre-loved goods, they need to be safe, usable and in good working condition.
Actionable Alternative:
Hold onto your broken item and bring it along to a Repair Revolution event, where skilled volunteers can often help fix them for free. If an item is beyond repair, take it to the Wānaka Transfer Station.
No, we’re not able to accept stained, heavily worn, or damaged items at Wastebusters. Items like this are difficult to find a new home for.
Actionable Alternative:
For clothing and textiles, use them as cleaning rags at home. Otherwise, check disposal or recycling options through the QLDC A–Z recycling directory. For clothing and textiles which are too worn, they’ll need to go in the rubbish bin.
No, we’re not able to accept whiteware at Wastebusters as it is difficult to test, store and rehome.
What you can do instead:
Actionable Alternative:
If it’s still working, you could list it on a local community Facebook page or Facebook Marketplace. If it’s no longer working, take it to the Wānaka Transfer Station where they can safely de-gas and recycle whiteware.
No, we’re not able to accept scrap metal at Wastebusters.
What you can do instead:
You can take scrap metal to the Wānaka Transfer Station where they can recycle it.
Yes, we’re happy to accept smaller household electrical items that have a New Zealand plug and are in safe, working condition. Before anything goes out onto the shop floor, our team tests electrical items to make sure they’re safe to plug in and use at home.
We can’t accept broken electrical items through our shop or front yard donations. For broken smaller household electricals like toasters, kettles, lamps or radios, you can bring them along to one of our Repair Revolution events, where a volunteer electrician may be able to repair them for you. If they can’t be fixed, take them to Wānaka Transfer Station.
We accept these for specialised e-waste recycling only. Because they require dedicated processing, the materials recycling charges apply. You can view our e-waste price list here.
Discover the treasures waiting for you at our Wānaka second-hand shop and front yard, from clothing and vintage finds to furniture and outdoor gear.
Our reuse shop is often described as a “beautiful mess”, with trinkets and treasures tucked into every corner. You’ll find everything from clothing and shoes to vintage finds, homeware, books and accessories.
Out in the front yard, things get bigger and a little more like Aladdin’s cave. It’s packed with furniture, sports equipment, outdoor gear, hardware and all sorts of practical treasures waiting to be discovered.
There’s a bit of everything. You’ll find clothing, homeware, furniture, books, toys, hardware, and seasonal items like ski gear.
Stock changes daily depending on what gets donated, so there’s always something new to discover.
All goods at Wastebusters are sold secondhand and “as is, where is”, meaning they may show signs of wear or have a few quirks that come with a pre-loved life. We can’t offer the same guarantees as brand new products, but honestly, isn’t that part of the charm of shopping secondhand? Every item has a story.
Electrical items are a little different. Before going out onto the shop floor, our team tests them to make sure they’re safe to plug in and use at home.
Because everything at Wastebusters is sold secondhand, most items are sold “as is”, so we aren’t able to offer refunds on general purchases.
Electrical items are the exception. When you purchase an electrical item, you’ll be given a receipt and a 48-hour return window in case it’s not working the way it should be.
Honestly, all the time. With donations arriving every day from 9 am to 5 pm, our team is constantly putting fresh finds out onto the shop floor and front yard.
One of the best things about shopping at Wastebusters is that you never quite know what you’ll discover.
If you’re after a slower, quieter browse, midweek mornings tend to be a little calmer. Weekends are usually busier and full of treasure hunters.
Yes, we can put items on hold for up to 24 hours.
Just have a chat with one of our team while you’re in-store and we’ll get it sorted for you. To keep things fair for everyone, we’re not able to place holds over the phone or through social media.
Yes, if you’ve found the perfect piece but aren’t sure how to get it home, we offer furniture delivery on most Tuesdays and Thursday mornings.
We deliver within Wānaka, Hāwea, Albert Town, Luggate and Cardrona, and there is a delivery fee depending on where it’s going. Just have a chat with our friendly team and we’ll help get everything sorted for you.
Get the details on Wastebusters’ Wānaka recycling services, including accepted materials like plastics, glass, and e-waste, and why we charge a small processing fee.
Yes, you can drop off recycling at Wastebusters between 9am and 5pm, seven days a week. There is a small fee for recycling, which helps us keep our recycling services running and materials properly processed. You can drop off:
At Wastebusters, we’re passionate about real, transparent recycling and keeping materials as clean and uncontaminated as possible, so they have the best chance of being properly recycled rather than ending up in landfill.
Yes, there is a small fee to help cover the cost of our team hand-sorting all recycling to make sure it is clean, uncontaminated, and able to be processed into new products.
Great question. We’re pretty passionate about real, transparent recycling at Wastebusters, so we like people knowing where things end up.
Our recycling is hand-sorted on site before being sent to trusted reprocessors around New Zealand and overseas, where the materials can be made into new things instead of ending up in landfill.
We’ve even put together a recycling map so you can follow the journey for yourself. Click here to take a look.
Yes please, giving your recycling a quick rinse and making sure it’s dry really helps. Nobody loves a crusty baked bean tin.
Clean recycling has a much better chance of actually being recycled and helps keep contamination out of the system too.
We’re not able to accept items that are dirty, food-contaminated, or made from materials that don’t currently have a robust recycling pathway. This includes soft plastics, plastics #3, #4, #6 and #7, meat trays, fruit punnets, coloured soft drink bottles, and coffee cups.
What you can do instead:
Check the QLDC A–Z directory to find the best disposal option, or take items to the Wānaka Transfer Station.
Sadly not. Soft plastics are tricky little things - so many types and grades - we’re not able to accept them through our recycling system.
What you can do instead:
Put them in your rubbish bin or look for specialist soft plastic recycling schemes run by the Soft Plastics Packaging Forum. (We love when industries take responsibility for the packaging they put out to consumers!)
Yes, we do accept e-waste at Wastebusters, including things like computers, phones, printers and cables. Charges apply depending on the item.
E-waste needs to go through specialist recycling systems so valuable materials can be safely recovered and kept out of landfill.
You can check out our e-waste recycling page for a full list of accepted items and pricing.
We’re committed to real recycling. All materials are hand-sorted and sent to trusted reprocessors where they can be turned into new products. We’ve put together a map showing where our recycling goes. Click here to take a look.
Learn about our Repair Revolution community repair events in Wānaka, where volunteers help fix your broken household items and share valuable repair skills.
We’re not able to accept broken items at Wastebusters. Everything sold needs to be safe, working, and ready for its next home.
We know it can feel a bit sad saying goodbye to something that still has potential though, especially if it only needs a small repair.
What you can do instead:
Bring your broken items along to one of our Repair Revolution events, where our volunteer repair heroes can have a go at fixing them for free. You can find upcoming events and details on our repair page.
Repair Revolution is one of our favourite community events, a free day all about fixing things, sharing skills, and keeping good stuff in use for longer.
At each event, our wonderful volunteer repair heroes roll up their sleeves to help mend everything from clothing and toys to lamps, toasters, small furniture and household items. It’s a lovely mix of practical skills, problem solving, cups of tea, and curious conversations.
Visitors are encouraged to stick around, ask questions, learn as they go, and give repair a go themselves too.
Repair Revolution events run regularly throughout the year and are free to attend thanks to the support of volunteers and funding. You can find our upcoming repair events here.
Repair Revolution is part of our Resourceful Communities Programme, proudly supported by Queenstown Lakes District Council’s Zero Waste District Programme.
Our volunteer repairers can often help with a wide range of household items. This includes things like clothing and zips, small furniture, toys, and small electrical items like lamps, toasters and radios.
Repairs depend on the item and the skills available on the day, so we can’t guarantee everything can be fixed. The best way to see what can be repaired at each event is to check our Facebook page, where we share the most up-to-date information depending on which volunteers are coming along.
What you can do instead:
If you’re unsure, feel free to bring your item along and we’ll take a look. If it’s not something we can repair, we’ll let you know and help point you in the right direction.
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!