The Warehouse is making recycling easier

The Warehouse has launched a new Recycle Hub at The Warehouse Royal Oak, as the first of many exciting customer solutions where 10 different types of hard-to-recycle items can be recycled.

Called ‘My Recycle Hub’, the innovative new format was designed after customer feedback showed 47% of Kiwis wanted to be able to recycle ‘hard-to-recycle' packaging items that can’t be done kerbside.

Coffee capsules, hair care, skincare, and beauty products, apparel, plastic bags, writing instruments and toys are just some of the items that can be recycled in the My Recycle Hub. This is free for Kiwis, and the design of the hub includes carparks for convenient drop offs.

The Warehouse Group Chief Sustainability Officer David Benattar says the initiative not only helps solve a problem for Kiwis and New Zealand when it comes to waste and recycling but helps us all make more sustainable choices every day.

“Our research showed 72% of Kiwis wanted to do more when it came to sustainability, and they were looking to brands to help them do this. My Recycle Hub makes doing the right thing easier for the large number of Kiwis who want to make recycling part of their everyday lives,” he says.

“I encourage customers to try it – collect up your recycling, bring it to the hub, use our easy sort bins that are side-by-side and know that we’ll work with experts to make sure it’s recycled appropriately. We hope to take the hard work out of recycling with this important solution for our customers.”

The first My Recycle Hub launched at The Warehouse Royal Oak alongside existing EV (Electric Vehicles) charging, and Locky Dock e-bike and e-scooter charging. These initiatives from The Warehouse are designed to help make sustainable living easy and affordable for everyone.

Benattar says My Recycle Hub is a natural extension of this commitment.

“Last year, we collected 10.9m pieces of single use plastics in the 34 stores where we offer the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme, so we know Kiwis want to recycle. We see this new initiative as a game changer at a time when addressing the impact of waste on our environment is more important than ever.”

Dylan Weymouth Group Business Operations Lead at The Warehouse Group says The Warehouse is excited to bring this new initiative to Auckland initially, to see how customers respond, and how they use the service to make a difference for the planet. 

“The My Recycle Hub at Royal Oak is the first in our planned rollout across New Zealand,” says Weymouth. “We’ll take the learnings we gain from this first hub and use those insights as we look to roll-out more and continue finding other ways to help our customers live more sustainably.” 

My Recycle Hub was developed in partnership with global and Kiwi recycling organisations TerraCycle and the Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme, who will collect the items when the hub is full.  The Warehouse is also partnering with Brita, Olay, Mattel, and Colgate to deliver the solution.

The 10 waste streams integrated in the My Recycle Hub are writing instruments, coffee capsules, oral care, hair care, skincare and beauty, textile, toys, ink and toner, soft plastics, and water filters.

More information about My Recycle Hub can be found here.