Short answer — no, you can’t.
Even though the yellow bin is for recycling, TVs don’t go in there.
And this is where a lot of people get confused.
People hear the word recycling and assume anything electronic must belong in the recycling bin.
But the Christchurch yellow bin is only meant for very specific materials.
Things like:
- cardboard
- paper
- plastic bottles
- cans
Televisions don’t fall into any of those categories.
A TV is classed as electronic waste, which means it has to be handled completely differently.
Recycling Bins Are Bloody Strict
People sometimes think the yellow bin will take anything that can be recycled.
But the rules are actually bloody strict.
I once had my own recycling bin rejected for pickup because I forgot to take the lid off a Coke bottle.
Yep… a bloody Coke bottle lid.
They slapped one of those big “contaminated recycling” stickers on the bin and left it sitting there like I’d committed some sort of recycling crime.
So if a tiny plastic bottle lid can get your whole bin rejected, what do you reckon is going to happen if someone tries to shove a bloody television in the yellow bin?
It’s not even close.
The recycling trucks are designed for things like cardboard, cans and bottles — not electronics.
A TV is electronic waste, which means it has to go through completely different recycling or disposal systems.
So yeah… if they won’t take a Coke bottle lid, there’s zero chance they’re taking your old 60-inch telly.
TVs Wouldn’t Fit in the Bin Anyway
There’s also a pretty obvious problem.
Most TVs today are massive.
The average TV people are replacing these days is around 55 or 65 inches.
Even if you tried, there’s no realistic way one of those is going into a yellow wheelie bin.
And if something is sticking out the top, the truck driver can simply refuse to collect the bin.
So the yellow bin idea usually gets ruled out pretty quickly.
What Usually Happens Instead
Because TVs can’t go in the red bin or the yellow bin, they often end up sitting around the house for a while.
People move them from room to room.
Then they get parked in the garage, shed, or spare room.
We see this all the time doing rubbish pickups around Christchurch.
A lot of the time someone has replaced the TV months ago, but the old one is still sitting there because nobody is quite sure what to do with it.
What You Can Actually Do With an Old TV
If you’ve got an old television you want gone in Christchurch, there are a few realistic options.
You can take it to an EcoDrop recycling centre if it’s still working.
You can also take it to the local dump, although that usually means loading it into the car and paying disposal fees.
Or if you just want the thing gone without messing around with trailers and dump runs, you can book a TV pickup here:
The Bottom Line
So can you put a TV in the yellow recycling bin in Christchurch?
No.
The yellow bin is only designed for normal household recycling like cardboard, plastics and cans.
Televisions are classed as electronic waste, which means they need to be disposed of through proper recycling or waste facilities.
That’s why so many old TVs end up sitting in garages and sheds for months — sometimes years — before people finally deal with them.
Eventually everyone reaches the same point:
“Right… this bloody thing needs to go.”
If you want to try and recycle it yourself read this.
