Waste & recycling
Homes in Colac Otway's kerbside collection areas have four council bins: a red-lid landfill bin, a yellow-lid recycling bin, a green-lid FOGO bin for food and garden waste, and a purple-lid glass-only bin. Put bins out the night before your collection day. Properties outside the collection areas don't get the service and don't pay the waste charge; they can use the council's transfer stations and rural drop-off points. Use the Good Sort app or the council's calendars to find your bin days.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Bulky / hard waste collection
- Pickup or drop-off for large items that don't fit in your bins.
Bin collection at a glance
- Landfill (red lid)
- Weekly in most areas; fortnightly in the Gellibrand, Kawarren and Grey River areasHousehold rubbish that can't go in the other bins, including wrapped nappies, polystyrene, window glass, drinking glasses, mirrors and Pyrex. Soft plastics also go in this bin for now: the council says supermarket soft-plastic recycling isn't operating. Standard bin: 120 litres.What goes in the landfill bin →
- Recycling (yellow lid)
- FortnightlyCardboard, paper, books and magazines, steel and aluminium cans (including empty aerosols), clean foil, milk and juice bottles, and plastic bottles, containers, trays and plant pots. Keep items loose, not bagged. Metal lids from glass jars go in this bin. Three extra recycling collections start the week before Boxing Day. Standard bin: 240 litres.What goes in the recycling bin →
- FOGO — food and garden organics (green lid)
- FortnightlyAll food scraps, including meat, seafood and bones, plus grass clippings, weeds, flowers, prunings, leaves and small branches (up to 300 mm long and 100 mm across). Kitchen caddies and liners are available from the customer service centres in Colac and Apollo Bay. In October and November the FOGO bin can also go out in the weeks the recycling bin is collected. Standard bin: 240 litres.What goes in the FOGO bin →
- Glass only (purple lid)
- Every four weeksGlass bottles and jars with lids removed. It goes out with the yellow bin in the weeks marked 'G' on your calendar. Standard bin: 120 litres.Glass bin →
- Waste charge on your rates (2026–27)
- $481 a year (weekly service); $368 (fortnightly service)The charge covers the four standard bins. The fortnightly service applies to the Gellibrand, Kawarren and Grey River areas only. Developed properties inside the declared collection areas pay it whether or not they use the service. Extra bins cost more: for example $462 a year for an extra 240-litre landfill bin, or $193 a year to upgrade the landfill bin to 240 litres.Waste charges →
- Transfer stations
- Alvie and Apollo Bay: 7 days, 10am–2pm. Birregurra: Sundays and the first Friday of each month, 10am–4pmAlvie Transfer Station, 977 Corangamite Lake Road; Apollo Bay Resource Recovery Centre, 10–18 Arthur Court; Birregurra Transfer Station, 75 Scouller Street. All take general and hard rubbish, recycling and green waste. Closed Christmas Day, Good Friday and New Year's Day, and on Catastrophic fire danger days. Cashless: EFTPOS or tip tickets (sold at the customer service centres). Alvie and Birregurra don't take waste oil.Transfer stations →
- Tip fees (2026–27)
- Mixed rubbish $67 per m³ ($14.50 for the first 240-litre bin); tree prunings $73 per m³Mattresses $46. Sorted steel scrap and e-waste (including TVs and monitors) are free. Car tyres $13.All tip fees →
- Hard waste
- No kerbside hard waste collection listedThe council's waste pages we checked (Sep 2026) don't list a kerbside hard waste collection. Hard rubbish can be taken to the Alvie, Apollo Bay or Birregurra transfer station, where fees apply. We'll re-check this.Transfer stations →
- No kerbside service? Rural drop-off points
- Beech Forest, Lavers Hill (Saturdays); Carlisle River, Gellibrand (Sundays) — twice a monthFor residents without kerbside collection, for household rubbish, recycling and glass only (fees apply; no hard or green waste). Beech Forest 8.30–11.30am and Lavers Hill 12–4pm; Carlisle River 8.30–11.30am and Gellibrand 12–3pm. Extra dates in January. Check the calendar for the next date.Drop-off dates →
- Find your bin day
- Good Sort app, or the council's 2026–27 calendarsCheck your bin day →
We describe the bins the way the council does. Colac Otway already has the state's four-bin system (glass-only purple bin since 2021). Bins must be at the kerb the night before; a bin that isn't emptied by 4pm can be reported (see 'Report a problem'). Services and fees change, so check the council's pages below.
Sources — check it yourself
- Colac Otway Shire — Kerbside collections · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Kerbside rubbish collection (red lid) · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Kerbside recycling collection (yellow and purple lids) · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Kerbside green waste (FOGO) collection · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — 2026–27 waste collection calendars (PDF: weekly and fortnightly areas) · 2026–27
- Colac Otway Shire — Waste charges 2026–27 (kerbside charges, bin sizes, tip fees) · 2026–27
- Colac Otway Shire — Transfer stations · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Drop-off facilities · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Extra waste collection services · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Alternative waste disposal (soft plastics, e-waste) · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Good Sort app · Sep 2026
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.