Urban Miners was started by Mark Hanlon and David Blewden from Rotary Cambridge after they became concerned about the lack of e-waste recycling facilities in Waipā.

After visiting several recycling operations around New Zealand, they started Urban Miners in 2020 as a not-for-profit organisation to provide a much needed e-waste recycling service for the Waipā community.

The main goal is to provide an environmentally focused e-waste service that diverts as much material as possible from landfill through recycling, reuse, or repair.

Initially, Urban Miners ran some trial e-waste collections at local rural schools. This was followed by their first public e-waste collection in Cambridge in December 2020. Urban Miners now hold e-waste collections in Cambridge and Te Awamutu every month.

Urban Miners reached another milestone in 2020 after securing a lease from the Waipā District Council for a building to use as an e-waste processing facility. It provides a base for our volunteers to sort and process e-waste after each collection event so that useful materials can be recovered. Household batteries are also sorted and graded. All recovered materials are then packed for shipment to partner companies for full recycling.

In 2025, Urban Miners became an independent charitable trust to ensure its long-term sustainability and ability to grow.

Where possible, Urban Miners salvage and refurbish reusable cell phones, computers, and laptops, which are then sold at low prices to the public at the Cambridge Lions Market. Other reusable household appliances are passed on to the local Lions Shed for resale.

Urban Miners is supported by the Waipā District Council, Waipā Waste Minimisation Fund, the Cambridge Community Board, and Te Awamutu Community Board.