To make recycling and disposing of waste easy, recycling stations and litter bins are conveniently located around Dunedin.
Recycling stations and litter bins around the city
Recycling stations and litter bins are not for commercial or household use. They are there to provide the public and visitors to our city with a valuable service and to keep Dunedin’s public places clean and beautiful.
Public places recycling bins
These enable the public to recycle while out and about. Three bins are contained within a single unit. These bins collect different waste material as follows.
| Mixed recycling | |
|---|---|
Deposit:
| Do not deposit:
Paper and cardboard are best recycled via your kerbside or workplace recycling bin. This is because paper and cardboard cannot be kept clean from food or liquid contamination. Doing so could result in a fine. |
| Glass | |
Deposit:
| Do not deposit:
|
| Rubbish | |
| For all other waste use the rubbish bin or any of the litter bins and keep Dunedin beautiful. |
LoveNZ glass bottle banks
There are four public places recycling bottle banks. These bottle banks collect colour sorted glass bottles and jars.
- 51 Harbour Terrace, Dunedin.
- 790 Cumberland Street, Dunedin.
- Gore Place - Dundas Street, Dunedin.
- 26 Ethel Benjamin Place, Dunedin.
Litter bins
There are a number of different styled litter bins in Dunedin but the majority of them are the 100-litre heritage bin as pictured. Having easy access to these bins means with your help our streets and footpaths can remain litter free.
Disposing of commercial or household waste in these bins breaches the Dunedin City Council's Litter Compliance Policy and you could face an infringement fee of up to $400. For commercial quantities of waste or recycling please contact a commercial waste and recycling collection service provider. You can find these companies listed in the yellow pages.
If you wish to report a litter incident or make any comments on how we can improve our services please contact Customer Services on 03 477 4000.
Littering and illegal dumping
The Dunedin City Council’s Litter Compliance Policy aims to keep Dunedin’s people and environment healthy by setting out how littering and illegal dumping will be tackled.
Responses range from education and warnings to infringement notices, fees and prosecutions. Which option we take will depend on the type or nature of the infringement, its impact on the environment and wider community, and its frequency. Infringement notice fees range from $100 to $400 depending on the offence – outlined in the table below. An offence that’s fits more than one descriptor will have a higher infringement penalty apply. We may also recover clean up and remediation costs from the offender.
The Litter Act outlines several categories - litter, dangerous litter and offensive litter.
Litter covers a range of material from refuse, rubbish and animal remains, to rubble, garden waste and grass clippings. Dangerous litter takes in things likely to cause injury, disease or infection, ranging from glass to sharp metal and medical waste, while offensive litter includes rotting food, animal remains and discarded nappies.
What should I do if I see someone littering or find illegally dumped rubbish?
Please report any incidents as soon as is possible, even if it is outside of usual DCC operating hours.
Take note of the date, time, location and nature of what has been dumped, along with information such as vehicle registration, the number of alleged offenders involved and their physical descriptions.
You can contact us with the information and your contact details by either email or phone.
Contact us
- Call: 03 477 4000
- Email: dcc@dcc.govt.nz
If you are found to be littering or illegally dumping waste the following infringements may apply.
Waste and Environmental Solutions | ||
| Littering Offences and Infringement (set by the Litter Compliance Policy 2024) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Infringement | First Offence | Second or Subsequent Offence |
| Household rubbish deposited in public litter bins or public space recycling bins will be treated as litter | $100.00 | $400.00 |
| A single item of litter, or less than 1 litre, left in a public space, or on private land without the occupier’s consent | $100.00 | $200.00 |
| Litter, of more than 1 litre and less than or equal to 40 litres* | $150.00 | $400.00 |
| Litter, or more than 40 litres and less than 240 litres** | $250.00 | $400.00 |
| Litter, of more than 240 litres, left in a public space, or on private land without the occupier’s consent*** | $400.00 | $400.00 |
| Dangerous litter or offensive litter left in a public place, or on private land, without the occupier’s consent | $400.00 | $400.00 |
| * Single item or small scale litter offence i.e. less than the volume of blue glass recycling bin | ||
| ** Medium scale litter offence i.e. less than the volume of a yellow-lidded kerbside mixed recycling bin | ||
| *** Large scale litter offence, in these cases the Litter Control Officer will make a judgement as to whether to apply a fine or pursue a prosecution through the courts. | ||