Questions?

The Packaging Forum’s soft plastics recycling scheme is available FREE at the Seagull Centre in collaboration with Thames Coromandel District Council.

We accept:

• Clean, empty and dry soft plastics.

The soft plastics are shipped to Future Post in Auckland and are made into plastic fence posts (check out the sample in store), vegetable gardens and parking bumpers.

We have three collection bins at the Seagull Centre in Thames (one on the ramp by the main shop and two next to the wooden shed by the drop off bay).

For more information about soft plastic recycling check out Recycling Kiwi NZ

Each DAY we send ONE wheelie bin for recycling – that’s 365 wheelie bins a year.

The Seagull Centre is proud to partner with Expol and Mitre 10, Thames to provide a FREE collection point for domestic polystyrene.

Since the partnership began in November 2023 customers throughout Thames – East Coromandel – Hauraki area have collected 200 cubic metres of clean polystyrene for recycling. 

We have a large wooden shed dedicated to polystyrene next to the drop off bay, please ask staff for assistance on arrival.

We accept:

• Household quantities: Up to 2 full rubbish bags.

• Clean polystyrene: No dirt, food waste or residue, no stickers or tape.

Commercial polystyrene recycling can be arranged through Expol directly.

All collected polystyrene is recycled into new Expol products –https://www.expol.co.nz/recycling-programmes/

The Seagull Centre has been collecting plastic bottle tops for Critical since November 2023. 

Critical is a New Zealand company using 100% recycled plastic to make plastic panels called Cleanstone – https://criticaldesign.nz/

We accept:

• Clean bottle tops: Washed, no liners (the inside bits of the lid), no metal

• Colour sorted

Due to the colour sensitivity of the cleanstone panels all lids must be colour sorted. You will find our eight collection draws located in the main shop at the Seagull Centre Thames. Drop offs are accepted at Seagull Centre Pauanui and Seagull Centre Tairua (please separate colours into different bags).

CHECK IT OUT – we have four cleanstone table tops located in Robins’ Room.

Over the past 12months we have collected over 30 WINE BOXES of plastic lids.  

The Seagull Centre is proud to partner with Tetra Paks and SaveBOARD to provide FREE collection points for food and beverage cartons.

The Food and Beverage Carton Recycling Scheme accepts all clean food and beverage cartons (such as juice, stock, long-life milk and alternative milk cartons).

We accept:

• Clean cartons: Cut flat, washed, dry

All collected food and beverage cartons are taken to SaveBOARD in Hamilton where they are made into a GIB alternative call saveBOARD - https://www.saveboard.nz/

CHECK IT OUT - The Seagull Centre has saveBOARD on display behind the main counter as well as on the walls in Robins’ Room.

We have two collection bins at the Seagull Centre in Thames (One on the ramp by the main shop & one in the wooden shed by the drop off bay), as well as collection points located at the Whangamata Information Centre, Seagull Centre Pauanui, Seagull Centre Tairua, and Hula Café Whitianga.

In 2024 a total of 360KGS of food and beverage cartons where recycled.

If your community group or business would like to be a collection point, contact Lucci@seagullcentre.co.nz

The Seagull Centre collects ALL types of batteries in Thames, Pauanui, Tairua, Whangamata and Whitianga. We ask for a koha towards the recycling costs.

Staff work hard under the guidance of Phoenix Recycling Group to categories the batteries to get the lowest price possible. Once they are sorted, they are delivered to Auckland by our local scrap metal man, Steve at Metal Recoveries.

How we accept batteries:

• Exposed battery terminals are taped (including button and power tool batteries) using clear sticky tape, non-conductive electrical tape, or duct tape but please keep the battery label information visible

Batteries are 95% recyclable so the more we recover and correctly recycle the less mining that is required. In 2023, 180,000 metric tons of lithium was mined with Australia producing about half of it and another 1.5 billion metric tons of iron ore was extracted around the world.

There are only a handful of certified battery recycling centres around the world and only a couple of certified exporters in New Zealand – Phoenix Recycling Group being one of them.

We are proud to say that in 2024 we sorted our backlog of batteries and sent a tonne of batteries to Phoenix Recycling Group to be recycled.

Nearly every printer that comes into the Seagull Centre for recycling has an ink cartridge. The Seagull Centre has joined the Brother Ink Recycling programme to make sure all ink is correctly disposed of, and cartridges are refilled or recycled.

This is not available for the public at the Seagull Centre.

For more information and your nearest drop off location check out: Brother Ink Cartridge Recycling here.