--- title: Used Cooking Oil Collection Wellington source: https://fulldrum.co.nz/used-cooking-oil-collection-wellington/ description: Used cooking oil and kitchen fat collection for Wellington, Lower Hutt, Petone and Porirua kitchens. Free drums, scheduled pickups, disposal certificates. organisation: Full Drum updated: 2026-09-04 --- # Used cooking oil collection in Wellington — collected before it overflows Full Drum provides used cooking oil collection to restaurants, cafés, takeaways and commercial kitchens across Wellington, the Hutt Valley and Porirua. We supply the drum, we track how fast your kitchen fills it, and we schedule the pickup before it overflows — you never have to remember to phone us. Every litre goes to a certified processing facility with documentation you can hand straight to your council or your auditor. Used cooking oil collection in Wellington, built around the thing that actually decides how a Wellington collection runs: access. ## Used cooking oil collection built for Wellington kitchens Wellington packs more hospitality into less space than anywhere else in New Zealand. A Te Aro kitchen might be down a flight of stairs in a heritage building with no rear access, twelve metres from a loading zone that is enforced to the minute. A Petone kitchen sits on a hundred-year-old shopfront strip with a rear lane you have to know about. A Porirua kitchen has a car park and a roller door. Same city region, three completely different collections. Full Drum has collected used cooking oil and kitchen fat from New Zealand kitchens since 2008. In Wellington that means we work out the access first and the container second — because in this city the access is what decides everything. A sealed drum sized to what will actually fit and actually move, a collection schedule built from your real fill rate rather than a fixed calendar, and a disposal certificate issued automatically after every pickup. No charge for the container. No lock-in for the first three months. If you run a fryer anywhere between Kilbirnie and Porirua, we will come and get what comes out of it. ## Three councils, one network: what the rules mean for your Wellington kitchen Here is something that catches out a lot of Wellington operators, especially anyone running more than one site. The Wellington region is served by a single wastewater network operator — Wellington Water — but the trade waste rules your kitchen has to meet come from your territorial council, and there are three of them across the areas we collect from. - Your kitchen is in: Wellington CBD, Newtown, Kilbirnie; Your bylaw: Wellington Trade Waste Bylaw 2016; Administered by: Wellington City Council - Your kitchen is in: Lower Hutt, Petone; Your bylaw: Hutt Valley Trade Wastes Bylaw 2016; Administered by: Hutt City Council, for Hutt City and Upper Hutt - Your kitchen is in: Porirua; Your bylaw: Porirua City Council's trade waste bylaw; Administered by: Porirua City Council Where to check the detail: Wellington City Council publishes the Trade Waste Bylaw 2016 and its trade waste consent process at wellington.govt.nz; Hutt City at huttcity.govt.nz; Porirua at poriruacity.govt.nz; Wellington Water at wellingtonwater.co.nz. Consent and grease trap fees are set annually — check the current schedule. This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Last reviewed: September 2026. ## The Wellington regions we collect from ### Wellington CBD Areas: Te Aro, Courtenay Place, Cuba Street, Willis Street, Lambton Quay ### Newtown Areas: Newtown, Riddiford Street, Berhampore, Mount Cook ### Kilbirnie Areas: Kilbirnie, Lyall Bay, Rongotai, Miramar, Hataitai ### Lower Hutt Areas: Lower Hutt, High Street, Seaview, Gracefield, Waterloo ### Petone Areas: Petone, Jackson Street, Petone Esplanade, Alicetown ### Porirua Areas: Porirua, Titahi Bay, Whitby, Aotea, Kenepuru Also collecting across Karori, Johnsonville, Tawa, Island Bay, Thorndon, Upper Hutt, Wainuiomata and Eastbourne, and north to Paraparaumu and the Kāpiti Coast. Note that Upper Hutt sits under the same Hutt Valley bylaw as Lower Hutt, while Kāpiti Coast District Council operates its own. ## Why Wellington kitchens overflow — and how we stop it Most cooking oil collection services wait for you to call. That works right up until the week you are too busy to notice the drum is full — which is always the week you can least afford it. Full Drum works the other way around. Our in-house routing software tracks your collection history, learns your kitchen's actual fill rate, and schedules the next pickup before the drum reaches capacity. You do not manage dates. You do not phone us. The drum gets swapped, a clean one goes in its place, and the certificate lands in your inbox. ## How our Wellington collection service works — step by step 1. Free container assessment. We visit your Wellington, Hutt Valley or Porirua premises at no cost, look at your weekly output and your access, and recommend the container size and collection frequency that fit. In Wellington we assess the access as carefully as the volume — stairs, service doors, loading zones and where a container can be sited safely out of the wind. 2. Container installed. We deliver and install a sealed collection drum, wheelie bin or 1000-litre pod at a spot that suits your kitchen and your loading access. The container is supplied at no charge and clearly labelled. 3. Scheduled collection, before it fills. Our routing software predicts your fill date and books the pickup ahead of it. Your driver swaps the full container for a clean one — no decanting, no mess, no interruption to service. 4. Certificate issued automatically. A digital disposal certificate arrives after every pickup, showing date and volume collected. Ready for your council, your insurer, your food safety audit or your sustainability reporting. ## The Wellington kitchens we collect from - Restaurants: Te Aro, Cuba Street, Jackson Street, Lower Hutt - Cafés and bakeries: small-format containers for tight premises - Takeaways and fish and chip shops: the highest fryer turnover in the city, on the shortest intervals - Food trucks and mobile traders: flexible pickup points, no fixed address needed - Hotels, caterers and event venues: multi-site coordination, one invoice - School and hospital canteens: term-time cadence, full compliance documentation - Clubs, pubs and sports venues: event-driven volume, handled We collect used cooking oil and kitchen fat only. We do not collect engine oil, motor oil or automotive oil. ## What you get with every collection - Container supplied free: Drum, wheelie bin or 1000-litre pod, sized to your kitchen - Scheduled pickups: Predicted from your fill rate, not a fixed calendar - Certified recycling: Every litre to a certified processing facility. Nothing to landfill - FreshDrum option: Clean frying oil delivered on the same run — one partner, one invoice ## Switching to Full Drum in Wellington Most of the Wellington kitchens that call us already have a provider. They call because the pickups stopped being reliable, because nobody ever sends the paperwork, or because the company they signed with is no longer trading. Switching is straightforward. We assess your site at no cost, install our container, and coordinate around your existing arrangement so there is never a gap where your kitchen has nowhere to put the oil. Your old provider collects their container in their own time. And you are not locked in with us for the first three months — if we do not turn up when we said we would, you are free to walk. ## Frequently asked questions — used cooking oil collection Wellington ### Do you collect in Wellington, or only in the North Island's bigger centres? Yes, we collect across the Wellington region — the CBD, Newtown, Kilbirnie and the eastern suburbs, Lower Hutt, Petone and Porirua. Full Drum services all of New Zealand, North Island and South Island, on scheduled routes. Call 0508 385537 to confirm the next available collection in your area. ### Which council's trade waste rules apply to my kitchen? It depends which city you are in, not which network. Wellington CBD, Newtown and Kilbirnie sit under the Wellington Trade Waste Bylaw 2016 administered by Wellington City Council. Lower Hutt and Petone sit under the Hutt Valley Trade Wastes Bylaw 2016 administered by Hutt City Council. Porirua operates its own trade waste bylaw and consent process. Wellington Water runs the wastewater network across all three. ### Can I pour used cooking oil down the drain in Wellington? No. Fats, oils and grease are controlled under the trade waste bylaws in every part of the Wellington region, and businesses discharging oil or grease may require a trade waste consent. Spent fryer oil must be collected separately — your grease trap is there for incidental fats off plates and pans, not for fryer oil. ### Do I still need a grease trap if you collect my oil? Yes. Wellington City Council requires grease traps to be fit for purpose, in working order, and cleaned by a council-approved contractor under a service contract. Hutt City and Porirua have equivalent expectations. Scheduled oil collection is what keeps that trap working inside its design load — the two work together. ### Where will you put the container in a small Wellington kitchen? That is exactly what the free assessment is for. Wellington premises are often tight, below street level, or exposed to serious wind, so we look at the access and the siting before we recommend a size. Sometimes the right answer is two smaller containers collected more often rather than one large one that cannot be moved. ### Do you collect in Lower Hutt, Petone and Porirua as well as Wellington city? Yes. Lower Hutt, Petone and Porirua are all on standing routes, along with Wellington CBD, Newtown and Kilbirnie. We also collect across Karori, Johnsonville, Tawa, Island Bay, Upper Hutt, Wainuiomata and north to the Kāpiti Coast. ### What happens to the oil after you collect it? It goes to a certified processing facility, where it is cleaned and recovered for industrial use. Nothing goes to landfill, and your certificate documents every collection. ### Do you collect engine oil? No. Full Drum collects used cooking oil and kitchen fat only — never engine, motor or automotive oil. ## Cost For most commercial kitchens the container is supplied free and there is no charge for collection. Depending on volume and oil quality a per-litre payment may apply. Rates depend on volume, location and the condition of the oil. Contact Full Drum on 0508 385537 for a quote. ## Contact Full Drum 9 Lorien Place, East Tamaki, Auckland 2013, New Zealand Freephone: 0508 385537 Mobile: 027 229 8039 Email: info@wtcnz.co.nz Web: https://fulldrum.co.nz/