Off a Masterton bypass, a maze of conveyor belts, funnels and magnets is grumbling within a mountain range of dead cars and fridges.
If you've scrapped a car or whiteware anywhere in a 300-kilometre radius, this is where it may have started its new life.
Wairarapa Scrap Metals is home to the only metal shredder in the lower North Island - a $4 million machine that sorts copper and steel from aluminium and foam.
Old tyres with a bit of tread left are piled off to the side, sold cheaply to people in need.
Cars don't fetch much at the moment - usually about $50 or $60, depending on what the international market is paying.
The recycling plant, run by the O'Brien family, has a small profit margin, and the family worried it is about to get smaller.
Yard manager Kieran O'Brien watches the shredder spin junk into clean metal - what's known as frag. The other end product is called floc - a mash of foam, plastic, carpets and steel dust, bound for the landfill.
For every 60 tonnes of good metal the machine spits out each day, another 30 tonnes of floc is produced.
Under the higher waste levy, getting rid of this floc could cost an extra $1500 a day, or $30,000 every month for Wairarapa Scrap.
The proposed increases to the waste levy, due to kick in next year, would see landfill fees progressively increase from the current $10 a tonne to $60 a tonne by 2024.
The Association of Metal Recyclers fears these fees will make their industry unprofitable - meaning no cashback for scrapping your car or other metal.
One of its members, Jeff Harris, said it might mean they actually have to collect payment before they recycle metal items.
"Even at $50 for a car, there's not a lot of people in our industry who are actively driving around picking up cars. It might be, sure you've got a car and we're doing a job out that way, we'll call around later and pick up your car.
"The moment you start asking people for money to come and collect their car - they're very reluctant.
"By increasing the waste levy, in terms of what we do in our industry, it's anti-recycling really."
Harris is in the process of setting up his own shredder at MacAuley Metals in Lower Hutt, but he worries future costs might be prohibitive.
O'Brien said the machine - imported from Italy - was switched on a year ago and has a long way to go before it pays itself off. He worries the levy might see people bypass recycling.
"If the waste levy goes up, we're possibly going to have to pay less for the scrap, so it doesn't have that incentive for the public to bring their material in here so it will just go to the landfill anyway. That's the way we look at it."
The existing levy was set in 2009 and is among the lowest of any country with a similar levy or tax.
Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said the government was well aware of the concerns and wanted to ensure the industry stays afloat.
"We don't want to create a disincentive for metal recycling. Metal recyclers have been around for decades, they were one of the earliest recycling industries in terms of scrap metal yards. We need to ensure they continue to function really well and we need to address the shredder floc issue."
Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage. Photo: RNZ / Ana Tovey
But she's concerned an exemption would allow people to claim their rubbish is floc as a way of wriggling out of the extra fees. She thinks there are other ways to help the industry.
"The whole waste sector is like a giant jigsaw - lots of pieces that need to be put together. Other options besides an exemption would be some short term funding from the Waste Minimisation Fund, or a lower rate for material like shredder floc going to landfill."
The Ministry for the Environment declined an interview but in a statement, it said there are ongoing active discussions with the industry and the Cabinet paper mentioned them specifically.
It echoed Sage's concerns, adding: "Including by-products in a blanket exemption will potentially create a loophole. Therefore the development of any exemption option needs to be undertaken from a whole waste sector perspective to ensure it does not subject the waste levy, and therefore its wider waste minimisation purpose, to any unintended consequences."
It stated there is some room for exemptions in the current legislation, but one like the industry is asking for may require changes to the Act.
The government says the current economic conditions will be taken into account before the waste levy timelines are finalised.
