---
name: nz-recycling-locator
description: "Find New Zealand reuse and recycling drop-offs by material and location, plus text search of repair cafés and Tyrewise collection sites. Use when locating material collection services or searching local repair events."
license: MIT
compatibility: "Requires Python 3.10+ and network access for live data"
metadata:
  thecolab.category: "environment"
  thecolab.source_owner: "RecycleMap NZ, WasteMINZ and collection networks"
  thecolab.source_type: "mixed"
  thecolab.auth: "none"
  thecolab.access_mode: "public-api"
  thecolab.data_class: "public"
  thecolab.writes: "false"
  thecolab.browser: "false"
  thecolab.risk: "low"
  thecolab.cache_ttl: "24h"
  thecolab.schema_version: "1"
  thecolab.skill_type: "public-api"
  thecolab.pack: "nz-public-data"
  thecolab.source_url: "https://www.recyclemap.co.nz/"
  thecolab.allowed_domains: "www.recyclemap.co.nz,www.google.com,www.opengis.net,www.sitemaps.org,www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz,www.repairnetworkaotearoa.org.nz,www.tyrewise.co.nz,www.e-cycle.co.nz,services7.arcgis.com,agrecovery.co.nz,api.mapme.com,techcollect.nz"
  thecolab.last_verified: "2026-10-08"
  thecolab.health: "degraded"
  thecolab.maintainer: "@adam91holt"
---

# NZ recycling locator

Find reuse and recycling drop-offs by material and WGS84 location; text-search
repair cafés and Tyrewise sites. Use
`scripts/cli.py` (Python 3.10+, stdlib). All commands support `--json`.
Read [source notes](references/source-notes.md) for coverage, acceptance limits,
upstream schemas and the unimplemented Council command.

```bash
python3 scripts/cli.py sources --json
python3 scripts/cli.py materials --source recyclemap --json
python3 scripts/cli.py find --material battery --near=174.7633,-36.8485 --radius 10 --json
python3 scripts/cli.py find --material concrete --near=174.7633,-36.8485 --source branz --radius 30 --format geojson
python3 scripts/cli.py search "Manurewa" --bbox=174.5,-37.2,175.2,-36.5 --json
python3 scripts/cli.py search "repair" --source repair --json
python3 scripts/cli.py item "battery" --json
```

1. Check `sources` for **live** status. It reports blocked/skipped sources without
   pretending they are empty directories. Repair status counts sitemap URLs;
   search fetches the linked café detail pages.
2. Use `materials` to inspect publisher labels. `find` accepts common aliases
   such as `battery`, `car battery`, `ewaste`, `paper` and `metal`; other
   terms match material labels case-insensitively by substring. Aliases match
   whole labels: `battery` excludes `Car Batteries`; `clothing` includes both
   resalable and non-resalable clothing labels as well as op shops and textiles.
   `search` matches all words in names, addresses, labels and source descriptions,
   including restrictions.
3. `find` requires `--near=longitude,latitude`; radius defaults to 20 km.
   `find` and `search` support `--bbox=minLon,minLat,maxLon,maxLat` and
   `--format geojson`. Null coordinates remain null and are excluded from
   spatial filters using local point containment. Default spatial queries skip
   Tyrewise and repair sources; explicit `--source` still selects them. Use
   text search for these listings. Tyres with coordinates may appear in other feeds.
4. Present source links, material restrictions, charges and opening hours.
   A site listed for one battery type may exclude another. Confirm acceptance
   with the operator, particularly damaged batteries and commercial loads.

Repeat `--source` to combine selected feeds: `recyclemap`, `wasteminz`, `repair`,
`tyrewise`, `ecycle`, `branz`, `agrecovery`, `beautification`, `council`,
`techcollect`. Defaults include the eight working directories; Council and
TechCollect are explicit selections. Council guidance is not implemented;
TechCollect has no verified script-accessible feed. They return exit 7 when they
are the only selected sources; with a working source they appear in
`source_status` and warnings with `result_status: partial`
(exit 0 when records remain). Neither website is fetched.

`item` returns `unsupported_operation` (exit 7) with the Council URL to consult.
It does not fetch or interpret Council disposal guidance.

Every record includes `name`, `address`, `lon`, `lat`, `materials`, `hours`,
`source`, and `provenance`. Record provenance has `source_url`, `publisher`,
`retrieved_at`, plus `licence` and `latest_data` only when known. JSON output
has `meta` and `results`; GeoJSON has `meta` and `features` with records in
feature properties. Errors have `meta`, empty `results`, and a typed `error`.
`materials` groups retain a provenance list; flat fields appear only for groups
from one source. `source_status` and `warnings` expose source failures;
`result_status: partial` indicates incomplete results. If no matching records
remain and any selected source failed, the query returns that failure.

BRANZ planned facilities are excluded. Human output shows facility type and
status; warnings identify service contractors or entries not marked Existing.
Confirm that these operators accept public drop-offs before recommending them.

Data commands cache normalised public records in `$XDG_CACHE_HOME/nz-recycling-locator`
(or `~/.cache/nz-recycling-locator`) for 24 hours; `--refresh` bypasses it.
Cached records retain their actual retrieval time. `sources` always checks live. No cache is used after a failed
refresh. `--limit 20` bounds search/find output; `--limit 0` returns all matches.
Data queries and live status probes load up to four sources concurrently,
retaining each source's request
pacing and selection order. Counts refer to source entries; overlapping sites
are deliberately kept with separate provenance. Network calls have 10-second timeouts.

Run `scripts/test_contract.py` for deterministic synthetic-fixture, provenance,
spatial and error checks. Run `scripts/smoke_test.py` for bounded live probes;
source outages are reported as skips and parser regressions as failures.