Envirohub can help give new life to products that can’t be recycled kerbside. Dropping off business waste to the city hub not only diverts it from landfill but has a range of other benefits, including money raised for charities.

Knowing exactly what you can recycle kerbside can often be tricky. Milk, wine and beer bottles, along with yoghurt and hummus tubs are ok, but their lids aren’t. Toothpaste tubes and brushes are a no, same goes for batteries…

Envirohub’s specialist recycling hub is here to fill that gap, taking these common items, and a whole lot more, and giving them new life in another form. In fact, in 2024 it diverted two tonnes of recyclable material from landfill; it’s hoping to hit three tonnes in 2025.

Envirohub is a not-for-profit that has been going for more than two decades in Tauranga, running a variety of sustainability projects, including the Sustainable Backyards event. It’s part of a nationwide network of 22 environmental hubs, each with a locally focused programme. Not only are items diverted from landfill, but it often benefits charities. For example, the metal beer, wine and jar lids taken by The Lion Foundation helped raise $175k across the motu in 2024, which was donated to Kidney Kids. That same year, Envirohub worked with the mental health charity Turning Point Trust to divert almost one tonne of textile waste, helping it raise $2500.

Some of the recycling is reused in ingenious ways: plastic bottle tops and lids might go to Envirohub’s Precious Plastic project to become jewellery. Another partnership with ImpacTex sees unwanted textiles (think sheets, towels, t-shirts etc) repurposed into panels that are used in signage, packaging, acoustic panels or wall/floor protection.

Envirohub also has bins for products such as Colgate dental products, printer cartridges, coffee pods, batteries, and even kids’ clothing that’s mended and given to Women’s Refuge. One of the newest bins is a local initiative that helps people with a common issue – the drawer stuffed with mysterious cables from long-gone devices and appliances. Cable recycling was the brainchild of Greerton’s A&J Demolition & Salvage Specialists, which processes the cables into separate components (plastic and copper), then recycles them (see video, above). The clever idea received funding from Tauranga City Council’s Resource Wise Community Fund (which will open again for applications in May).

If you are in the city centre, Priority One (29 Grey St, Tauranga) has recycling tubs for cables, batteries, and metal and plastic lids that you are welcome to use. The Envirohub team is happy to note an increase in visitors that have established a similar workplace collection point. Beyond recycling opportunities, we encourage you to contact Envirohub to find out how you can get your business involved in sustainable activities, such as workshops or community clean-ups. They can be a fun and worthwhile team activity.

Envirohub is located at 31B Glasgow St, Tauranga, and is open for recycling drop-offs Monday to Thursday, 10am to 2pm. Check out our video above for more about what it accepts.

To keep across more local sustainability initiatives, plus other key projects around our city, sign up for Priority One’s fortnightly eDM here.