Short answer?
Not really.
A microwave is way bigger than the sort of rubbish the red bin is meant for.
The red wheelie bin in Christchurch is for normal household rubbish.
Food scraps.
Packaging.
General junk from around the house.
A microwave is a completely different animal.
It’s basically a metal box full of wiring, electronics and a glass plate.
And they’re heavier than most people expect.
So the idea of just chucking one in the red bin usually falls apart pretty quickly.
Try Fitting One in the Red Bin
Have you ever tried to jam a microwave into a Christchurch red bin?
The bloody thing barely fits.
They’re wider than the bin opening most of the time.
You end up trying to angle it sideways, shove it down, push the lid closed.
Half the time the lid won’t even shut properly.
And if the bin lid is sticking up even a little bit, the council truck won’t pick it up anyway.
So now you’ve got a microwave jammed in the bin and the rubbish truck drives straight past.
Not exactly a great plan.
What Actually Happens to Old Microwaves
Here’s the reality.
People don’t always deal with them properly.
I drive around Christchurch picking up rubbish every day and you see microwaves dumped all over the place.
In bushes.
Sitting on fences.
Left in parks.
Sometimes even thrown in the river.
Someone’s microwave dies and instead of dealing with it properly they dump it somewhere and hope someone else sorts it out.
Which is bloody stupid.
Because eventually someone still has to deal with it.
Usually the council.
Or someone like us when it gets reported and needs picking up.
Where Microwaves Usually End Up Instead
Most of the time the microwave just ends up sitting somewhere out of the way.
Usually the garage.
Sometimes the shed.
Sometimes the laundry.
The new microwave goes on the bench.
The old one gets moved.
And that’s about as far as the plan goes.
It sits there for months in a lot of houses.
You walk past it now and then and think I should deal with that thing.
Then you forget about it again.
Until one day someone finally does a proper clean-out.
The Dump Run Option
Some people eventually throw the microwave in the car and take it to the dump.
That works fine if you’ve already got a trailer load of rubbish.
But for one microwave it’s a bit of a mission.
You have to:
Load it into the car.
Drive across town.
Queue at the transfer station.
Pay the minimum charge.
Unload it yourself.
For a single kitchen appliance most people can think of better things to do with their Saturday.
That’s why so many of them just sit around the house for ages.
When Appliances Start Piling Up
The microwave usually isn’t the only thing.
After a while people start noticing other appliances sitting around that nobody wants anymore.
Stuff like:
• kettles that stopped working
• toasters that burn everything
• air fryers that packed up
• coffee machines nobody uses
• blenders and food processors Individually they’re small items.
But once a few of them pile up people usually just want the lot gone.
Getting Rid of a Microwave in Christchurch
If you’ve got an old microwave sitting around, the easiest option is usually just having it picked up.
We collect small appliances all over Christchurch.
Microwaves.
Kettles.
Toasters.
Air fryers.
Coffee machines.
Instead of trying to jam them in the bin or doing a special dump run, they can simply be removed along with other household junk.
You can organise that through Small Appliance Removal Christchurch
Do you need something else pickup?
How to Book a Pickup
Booking is simple.
1. Go to Small Appliance Removal Christchurch
2. Select Larger Bench Appliances
3. Choose how many appliances you want removed
4. Pick your pickup day
5. Complete checkout online
Once the order is placed, the appliances just need to be ready for collection.
No trailers.
No dump runs.
Just get the thing out of the house.
Here are some ideas to get rid of it for free.
