History
Mastagard is the South Islands largest independent recycling services and waste collection company.
Mastagard manages a wide range of facilities throughout the South Island. In Bromly, Christchurch, Mastagard owns and operates a state-of-the-art paper recyling plant and down the street Mastagard owns New Zealand's first state-of-the-art closed circuit plastics recycling plant. In Woolston, Christchurch Mastagard owns and operates a local refuse station. Our refuse station is where our trucks bring our waste collection. Mastagard's Refuse Station is also open to the general public and is cheaper than city council refuse stations!
Mastagard operates a huge fleet of trucks, including our new Western Star which are maintained through our in-house engineering and mechanical workshops.
Mastagard has been servicing thousands of businesses, households, contractors and construcition sites from Haast to Hokitika to Ashburton to Christchurch for over 30 years.
History and Milestones
1970 - Mastagard commenced business in Christchurch and was originally named Master Gardener as the business first set out to provide gardening services. The owners at the time found that there was more demand for the removal of general waste than for gardening services. As the direction of the company changed the name was changed to Mastagard. The company continued to collect waste on a small scale from residences and businesses for 30 years within Christchurch.
2000 – Sebastian Stapleton, a Christchurch local, purchased Mastagard which at the time consisted only of a Briford trailer and a small truck. From that point the business direction was changed to focus on building the client base and commercial clients that required specialist services. As the company grew it found that many clients were requiring a “total service provider” which encouraged Mastagard to provide not only the waste collection service, but the recycling services of various materials.
2007 - Mastagard purchased Coleridge Paper Company Ltd, a business that was started in Christchurch in 1968 and grew to become the largest independent recycler of cardboard and paper in the South Island. This acquisition gave Mastagard the ability to provide to any organization a one-service-provider solution who would be accountable for the recycling and waste of its business. The original founder of Coleridge still works for the company today.
2008 - Mastagard purchased New Zealand Plastic Recycling, a business that has serviced the recycling needs of companies such as ‘Fisher & Paykel’, The Warehouse and Fonterra.
2008 - Mastagard was appointed by ‘Westland District Council’ as the Landfill and Transfer Station Operator to some of New Zealand’s most sensitive ‘World Heritage Parks’ and ‘National Heritage Areas’. All of the recyclables are now transported from Westland to our Christchurch plant, were they are sorted and recycled. Some of the areas that we collect grew to include Fox Glacier, Franz Josef, Kumara, Whataroa, Haast and Hokitika. Mastagard also began working with the Westland District Council to transform the local Landfill at Hokitika into a transfer station.
2009 - Mastagard commissioned the building of a new state-of-the-art facility on its Bromley site to accommodate a ‘closed circuit’ recycling operation that would allow it to turn milk bottles and shrink wrap back into pellet form.
2010 - Mastagard entered into a joint venture with Southern Demolition to open an ‘eco recycling’ transfer station at Wilsons Road. This transfer station allowed Mastagard to service the needs of commercial operators in the Christchurch region. The Eco Recycling Facility is able to recover timber, cardboard, paper, plastic, metals and all other recyclables that both Mastagard and Southern Demolition are able to process.
2010 - Mastagard was appointed by Ashburton District Council on a 7 year contract to manage and run the resource recovery centres throughout the district, process all recyclables, and develop and implement a comprehensive environmental education programs for schools and community groups.
2010 – Mastagard was awarded Enviro-Mark Bronze status, an achievement that shows that we do more than just talk about environmental and safety issues. We have minimized operating costs and helped to manage environmental risks which is all part of Mastagard’s ongoing efforts for a cleaner and greener New Zealand.
2011 – After the February earthquake Mastagard has been and remains committed to providing reliable service at a time when people need it the most. 
Key Contracts & Partners
(Please note this is a selection and not an exhaustive list)
Westland District Council
(10 year contract to manage all waste and recycling activities
and initiative s in the district)
Ashburton District Council
(7 year contract to manage all waste and recycling activities
and initiative s in the district)
Canterbury University
(Contract as exclusive waste & recycling services partner)
Hawkins Construction
(Contract as exclusive waste & recycling services partner, developing onsite recycling for builing sites)
Land care Canterbury
(Contract as exclusive waste & recycling services partner – we reduced their waste by over 50%)
Ruapuna Raceway
(Contract as exclusive waste & recycling services partner – we have developed a events recycling program)
