Mr Pape, the branch manager at Sims Pacific Metals in Dunedin, said the items had been left at the gate of the company's Portsmouth Dr yard over the last few days.
Such was the size of the pile, Mr Pape and a helper, Geoff Blewden, had to suspend their holidays and come in to work to clear the material.
It was a recurring problem during holidays and even long weekends, and something warning signs and surveillance cameras outside the yard's gate had failed to discourage, he said.
"There's a lot of fridges and car panels - generally just light iron that costs money to dump at the landfill.
"We have had an ongoing battle with this for years.
"I have been the manager for 10 years and it's not gone away.
"For being closed we are doing lots of business," Mr Pape said.
It appeared most of the items dumped at the gate had been used commercially, and had likely been dropped off by a second-hand dealer, he said.
It was common to find a pile of discarded items at the gate at this time of year, and this year the volume, between 1.5 and two tonnes dropped off in the last few days, was not unusual, he said.
"Some days we will come here after a long weekend and, if there's been a demolition derby, there will be 12 or 13 cars here."
The company's workers had to remove the items from the footpath in front of the yard's gate for health and safety reasons, but did not make a profit by on-selling the cheap material, which was often mixed in with rubbish, he said.
The material that could be recycled was shredded in Christchurch before being shipped to buyers overseas, mainly in Southeast Asia, he said.
However, Mr Pape's problems were not unique - Everitt Enterprises Ltd staff said they, too, had discovered a "huge pile" of unwanted whiteware at the gate of their South Dunedin yard in recent days.
"We have quite a bit . . .
"One of our guys was coming in every day [over the holiday period] and clearing the footpath," worker Sean Everitt said.
Staff at the Acme Metal & Drum 2008 Ltd and Otago Metal Industries yards reported no problems over the holiday period.
Mr Pape said it was easier to clear the mess outside the Sims yard than try to identify those responsible for dumping.
"[We] just spend a couple of hours tidying up and get ready for the next load," he said.
