The Kaitaia Menz Shed brings members of the community together in a shared space to share their skills, have a laugh and work on practical tasks individually or as a group. Over the past year, Kaitaia Menz Shed memberships have doubled leaving the group to work out of a facility that was too small for its rising member levels. In June 2023, Northland Waste invited the group to move into the facility next door at the Kaitaia Transfer Station.

Menz Shed Kaitaia was an excellent fit to move into the facility as it shows how to upcycle waste to create a more circular economy. Their values align closely with our waste minimisation goals and having them on the premises demonstrates to the community coming into the Transfer Station how to reuse and repair products rather than send them to Landfill. “We have people coming in asking when the old guys’ shed is going to be open again because they like to come through and see what they are up to,” Darryn Shanks (Kaitaia Branch Manager) said.

Having the Menz Shed on site has also increased our own recycling as we have now been able to pull items out of the waste stream and take them to the Menz Shed for repair. The items repaired are then able to be sold in our onsite second-hand ‘The Last Re:Sort’, where profits are then donated to a local Far North not-for-profit charity.