About Recycle South

Our Story

**Not just work, quality work.**

‘Disability’ covers a variety of situations. Employment for disabled people is often limited by opportunity and people's attitudes rather than the actual disability. We support highly capable New Zealanders to be part of the workforce, removing barriers they may face in other employment arrangements.

This is achieved by structuring our roles
and responsibilities around the needs of
each individual worker, carefully guiding
them and adapting the role as their skills and confidence grow.

Our goal is for every member of staff to feel valued and get a real sense of pride within themselves for what they achieve with us.With the right support, a person living with a disability can have the same sense of fulfilment in their working life as a non-disabled person.

Although we are a registered charity, our core business is recycling. We have a genuine passion for our environment and ensuring we create a more sustainable future. We want the next generation to enjoy New Zealand the way we have always known it, upholding our “clean green” image.

Over the years, with support from the community, we have grown from having a staff of 8, to now having a a team of over 100 employees! We have both disabled and non-disabled workers within our team, and we all get along like a house on fire!

We encourage all people with disabilities who are looking for work to contact our People and Capability Officer to see if Recycle South will be the right fit for your working life.

Our History

Recycle South, formerly known as Southland DisAbility Enterprises, has a rich history here in the South.
We’ve come a long way since our establishment as an industrial work training unit in 1974.

Have a look through the milestones of our story below!

2021
2021 brought continued disruption from COVID with stringent lockdown rules that affected a number of our staff for different parts of the year.

We managed to have a fantastic awards evening at the Ascot Park Hotel. This was was an outstanding event enjoyed by all.

Our SIT Supported Learning Certificate course expanded on the success of 2020 to the point where we employed a tutor for the course.

An agreement was reached with Makarewa Coolstores to develop a site for the further processing of bale wrap and domestic plastics.

2020
During 2020 we were able to re-negotiate the recycling contract with ICC, which provided certainty for all staff moving forward.

During this year, we established a partnership with SIT to provide study for our people in the form of a Certificate in Supported Living. This resulted in 11
of our staff graduating with other SIT graduates at their ceremony. This was a great occasion for all.

The Board confirmed the plans and committed to importing a machine to further process rural and domestic plastics at a new plant.

In March, a new pandemic came to the world, called COVID-19. This saw us locked down for five weeks and the introduction of health and safety measures that we all took time to get used to. It also caused the cancellation of our major awards night.

2018
Discussions began to renew the WasteNet contract. These discussions broke down and became very public. 2018 and 2019 became a very stressful time for our employees as we worked through securing a new contract.

2011
The mechanical recycling facility (MRF) begins operation at SdE’s current address.

Southland disAbility Enterprises Ltd, through our business collections and our contract with WasteNet (WasteNet is the three Southland Councils which consists of the Southland District Council, the Gore District Council and the Invercargill City Council that provide your kerbside recycling service), receive, process and sell as many and as much recyclable items as logistically possible.