Council waste disposal and recycling programs for your strata property
Here’s how to dispose of recyclables and bulky household waste items in a way that is environmentally friendly and keeps your neighbourhood clean too
Whether you are culling items prior to moving, replacing old belongings with new ones or making your way through a Marie Kondo-style stocktake of all your worldly possessions, there often comes a time when you need to dispose of bulky or dangerous objects that just won’t fit or belong in your strata property’s standard garbage bins.
Thankfully, most local councils across the country have a range of simple, convenient and cost-effective solutions to this problem.
While we would always recommend trying to sell or giveaway bulky goods first, we know that sometimes isn’t a viable option. Here are a few local councils that have waste disposal and recycling programs:
- New South Wales: City of Sydney
- New South Wales: Inner West Council
- New South Wales: Northern Beaches Council
- Victoria: City of Melbourne
- Victoria: City of Yarra
- Victoria: City of Port Phillip
- Queensland: City of Brisbane
- Queensland: City of Gold Coast
- Queensland: Sunshine Coast Region
New South Wales: City of Sydney
City of Sydney locals have several great waste disposal and recycling program options available.
You can book a free pick up for bulky items. The council recommends you separate the items into the following groups:
- Mattresses
- Furniture and bulky household items
- Whitegoods, metals and electronic wastes.
Only place the items in the designated pick-up areas the night before the collection, so that passers-by are not inconvenienced.
The council also hosts a quarterly Recycle It Saturday, during which locals can drop off unwanted items like:
- Electronics
- Clothing
- Plastics
- Cardboard
- Other miscellaneous household items.
Other local recycling options include booking a power pick-up for just $2 a bag using the RecycleSmart App and taking items such as batteries, mobile phones and light bulbs to council recycling stations.
New South Wales: Inner West Council
If you reside within the parameters of the Inner West Council, your disposal options will vary a little depending on the suburb in which you live. Knowing this, it is best to look up what is relevant to your suburb specifically.
The council services a free scheduled Clean Up for furniture and large household items. You can find out your area’s scheduled Clean Up day by checking the Online Waste Calendar, or downloading the Inner West Council Waste App.
If you choose to make the most of this service, you must place items such as furniture, damaged household items, bundled garden waste and bundled ropes and hoses out neatly on the kerb the night before your collection. It is importable to make sure no items are placed in a way that blocks the footpath or affects pedestrian access.
Residents in several Inner West Council suburbs can also book a free Clean Up for large household items, furniture, mattresses and whitegoods.
The Inner West council runs a Weekend Transfer Station, which is a terrific way to dispose of items such as mattresses, electronic waste, garden organics and recyclable items for free. However, you will have to pay a fee to drop off bulky waste and mixed waste.
If you need to dispose of problem waste such as gas bottles, oils, paints or batteries, you may do so for free at the council’s Community Recycling Centres.
New South Wales: Northern Beaches Council
The Northern Beaches Council is passionate about sustainability, which is why they offer local residents access to a range of disposal and recycling solutions.
While the Northern Beaches Council provides locals living on the mainland with access to two free household collections every 12 months, the rules are a little different for those living in multi-unit dwellings. If you live in a strata property, you have the option of either booking two collection services per year for the entire block or allowing individual unit owners or tenants to book collection services individually. Either way, the property’s strata manager will need to write to the Council and notify them of which of the two options has been chosen.
This collection option is suitable for the following items, as long as they are a maximum of three cubic metres:
- Furniture
- Mattresses
- Whitegoods (with doors removed)
- Non-recyclable household items.
The Council will not collect:
- Items longer than 1.8 metres
- Car parts
- Items smaller than a toaster
- Electronic wastes.
The Council also offers separate drop-off recycling programs for electronic wastes, chemicals and problem wastes. These can be dropped off to your local Community Recycling Centre or a range of local businesses that recycle such items. Locals can also take part in the New South Wales Government’s Chemical Clean Out event.
Victoria: City of Melbourne
As over 70 per cent of City of Melbourne locals reside in high-rise residential building, its local council offers several waste disposal and recycling programs.
All City of Melbourne residential rate payers are entitled to one free hard waste collection per year. If you live in a high-rise residential building with an onsite building manager, you will need to get in touch with them to organise your collection. The collection accommodates for a maximum of one cubic metre of hard waste each time, which can include household items such as:
- Appliances
- Ceramics
- Electronic waste
- Furniture
- Tools.
Residents must not include the following items if utilising this service:
- Car parts
- Garden waste
- Rubbish.
If you live in a building with over 29 individual apartments, you can approach your committee or building manager to organise a free electronic waste bin for the building. Available in 240L and 660L options, the bin must be kept in a secure location and can be used to recycle the following:
- Electrical items
- Batteries
- Power cords.
The City of Melbourne’s High Rise Recycling Program might be of interest for many apartment dwellers. It aims to improve the quality and quantity of recycling by those living in apartment buildings by organising free clothing and shoe donation bins as well as extra cardboard and recycling bins if necessary. The program also provides waste signage and stickers, to help residents choose the right recycling options for their waste.
Victoria: City of Yarra
The City of Yarra encourages local residents and businesses to reuse and recycle as much as possible, and runs several waste collection programs.
Residents living in the City of Yarra may book in a total of two free hard waste collections every year. If you live in a building or complex, you must ask your committee or building manager to book the collection on your behalf. You will need to submit a list of items you want to dispose of, so you should spend some time planning before finalising your booking. Do not forget to make sure the whole collection can be easily lifted by one or two people.
Once the collection has been booked, you can place your hard rubbish on the kerb outside the front of your property the night before collection — it is illegal to place it there any earlier. Items that can be discarded via this collection include:
- Mattresses
- Electronic wastes
- Whitegoods
- Small furniture items.
If you need to dispose of chemical products, you can drop these items off at one of the many Detox Your Home facilities across Victoria, or at one of the mobile collection sites.
The City of Yarra also has a recycling drop-off centre, which is run exclusively for Yarra residents. Open seven days a week, this drop-off centre accepts a range of items including:
- Batteries
- Tyres
- Cardboard
- Electrical waste
- Mixed recycling
- Hard plastics.
You must ensure the items are placed in the correct bins and are invited to take home mulch and paints from the centre too.
Victoria: City of Port Phillip
The City of Port Phillip runs a number on services and programs that tackle waste and recycling, in an effort to maintain public spaces to a high standard.
Port Philips locals living in multi-dwelling properties can book up to six free hard or green waste pickups per year, per property. However, you must get in touch with your committee or building manager to make a booking so that all residents can contribute to the collection. The materials and items must be stacked neatly on the kerb within 24 hours prior to the collection. The item must be categorised into the following piles:
- Hard waste
- Green waste
- Metal, appliances and electronic waste.
The following items will not be accepted:
- Asbestos
- Car batteries
- Glass bottles
- Liquid and chemical wastes.
The City of Port Phillip runs a very handy resource recovery centre and depot, which locals can visit to dispose of waste. The centre accepts the following recyclable materials, among others:
- Oils
- Paints
- Car parts
- White goods
- Mattresses
- Electronic waste.
While this is a free service, fees will apply if you need to recycle the above listed items in massive quantities. You will also need to pay a fee to dispose of non-recyclable items.
Queensland: City of Brisbane
Though Brisbane City Council traditionally organises an annual kerbside collection for every Brisbane suburb, this has now been postponed until mid-2022. Until the service resumes, Brisbane residents can use their 10 100-kilogram Waste Vouchers to organise free waste disposal at any of the council’s resource recovery centres. Once these vouchers have been exhausted, residents have the choice of paying a fee for further waste disposal.
Brisbane residents may dispose of their recycling, general or green waste at the council’s Resource Recovery Centres at any time. Reasonable amounts of recyclables can be disposed of for free. The council accepts the following recyclable items, among others:
- Toys
- Aluminium cans
- Cardboard
- Electronic waste
- Batteries
- Glass items
- Metals
- Oils
- Appliances.
Hazardous wastes can be dropped off to the Resource Recovery Centres. General and green waste can be disposed for a small fee.
Queensland: City of Gold Coast
As of January 2021, the residents across the entire Gold Coast region have access to FLEXiSKiP, which is an on-demand kerbside collection service. To make use of the service, locals need to submit a booking. Once the booking is confirmed, a foldable skip bag (that is three cubic metres in volume and one-tonne in capacity) will arrive at your home. Residents need to place the skip on the kerb (in a way that does not obstruct the footpath), fill it up with waste items, and use the FLEXiSKiP by Handel app to book the collection. The following waste items are accepted by the FLEXiSKiP program, as long as they fit in the skip:
- Mattresses
- Furniture
- Carpets and rugs
- Appliances
- Bathtubs
- Wood products
- Glass items.
Several community recycling centres are scattered across the Gold Coast region. Residents can use them to dispose of their household wastes for free as long as the waste is delivered in a sedan, van or small trailer and follows the council’s maximum waste measurements. Waste items must be separated into general rubbish and recyclable piles prior to delivery. Some domestic wastes can only be delivered for a fee. These items include:
- Asbestos
- Tyres.
Some recycling centres feature the Recycle Street initiative, which includes charity bins of goods that can be resold through charity organisations.
Queensland: Sunshine Coast Region
The Sunshine Coast Region has eight resource recovery facilities available for residents to use. The following items can be disposed of for free at these facilities:
- Metals
- Oils
- Pesticides and chemicals
- Batteries
- Paints
- Electronic waste
- Clothing and rags
- Mobile phones and accessories.
When you arrive at the centres, officials will inspect your items and help you remove ones that can be recycled or re-sold. It’s important to separate your recyclables and rubbish, as this will ensure your trip costs you less.
Note
We’ve used the information available to us at the time of writing. This may change, so please refer directly to the relevant council for the most up-to-date information. If your local council is not mentioned in this article, you can learn more about your local council’s waste disposal and recycling programs via the below links:
If you’d like to find out more about maximising on savings, driving energy efficiencies, and getting a NABERS rating for Apartment Buildings, visit here. Alternatively, if you would like to find out more about how we are supporting sustainability, visit our CommunityGreen page.
