Waste and recycling frequently asked questions

Find your bin day by entering your address on the bins and collections page.

How often are my bins collected?

• food and garden waste bins (green lid) are collected weekly. 
• garbage bins (red lid) are collected fortnightly
• recycle bins (blue) are collected fortnightly 

Your recycle bin and garbage bin will be collected on alternate weeks.

If there's a problem with your bin, or your bin collection was missed for an unknown reason, you can report it online.

• Report a missed collection

Bins are emptied anytime between 6am and 6pm on your collection day. Please wait until after 6pm before reporting a missed collection.

Bin repair

We can replace or repair the following bin parts:

• the lid of the bin
• the pin that connects your lid to the bin
• the wheels.

You can request a free bin repair online. 

Bin replacement

Your bin is considered damaged beyond repair if:

• the body of the bin is split or has holes
• the base of the bin is broken
• the handle is damaged.

If your bin is damaged beyond repair, request a free replacement.

Missing bin

If your bin is missing, report a missing bin online or contact our Customer Service Team on (03) 9599 4444.

Residential bins can be put out up to 24 hours prior to collection and must be brought back in no more than 24 hours after collection. 

Commercial bins can be put out up to 12 hours prior to collection and must be brought in no more than 4 hours after collection. 

Yes. Bins are collected on public holidays and over major holiday periods (including Easter, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve). 

New house

If you are moving into a new house that does not have bins, you can nominate your bin sizes by calling us on (03) 9599 4444. 

Existing house

To change your current bin size or request additional bin, please complete the Order a smaller, larger or additional bin form. Please note additional charges may apply.

Put your bin on the nature strip out the front of your house. If you live in a cul-de-sac or court, place your bins outside the truck turning zone.

• place your bin out with our logo facing the street
• leave at least 50cm of space between each bin
• do not place your bin too close to trees or parked cars
• do not overfill your bin 
• do not place out extra bags of boxes and rubbish. 

Illegal dumping means deliberately dumping, tipping or burying waste on private or public land that’s not licensed to accept it. Illegal dumping can vary from small bags of rubbish in an urban environment to larger scale dumping of materials in isolated areas, such as bushland.  

Report to Council if you see someone illegally dumping rubbish: 

• On nature strips 
• In parks and/or reserves 
• On local roads 
• If you believe someone has dumped waste on your hard rubbish pile. 

Note: Illegal dumping does not include littering.

If you believe it is illegal dumping, then please complete this form or contact us on (03) 9599 4444. 

When using your food and green please use compostable bags labelled with the AS4736 (Australian Standard) logo. 

You can purchase a 150-bag roll of AS4736 compostable bags for $13.00 from Council's Corporate Centre at 76 Royal Avenue, Sandringham and at all Council libraries. Alternatively, most major supermarkets and hardware stores now have them available. You can even find them online, just look for the AS4736 logo.

The 8 litre capacity bags will fit inside your Council-provided kitchen caddy.

Before your recycling hits the automated sorting machines, pre-sorters pick out items that aren’t recyclable. But they can’t pick out everything that doesn’t belong on the fast moving conveyer belt. These items are called contaminants and include things such as soft plastics, recycling in plastic bags and clothing. Contaminants get caught up in the sorting machines and can be dangerous to employees.