← Glenelg Shire Council
Waste & recycling

Waste & recycling

Glenelg's kerbside service covers the designated collection areas of its towns — Portland (including Dutton Way), Cape Bridgewater, Narrawong, Nelson, Heywood, Dartmoor, Casterton, Digby, Merino and Sandford, with Condah also named on the council's recycling page. Households there have a red-lid rubbish bin collected weekly, and a yellow-lid recycling bin and a lime-green-lid food and garden organics (FOGO) bin collected on alternate fortnights. Outside these areas, properties on or near some designated rural roads can apply for an optional kerbside service; everyone else uses the council's transfer stations or a private contractor.

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.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

Bin collection at a glance

Rubbish (red lid)
Weekly, 120-litre binGeneral waste, which goes to landfill.
Recycling (yellow lid)
Fortnightly, 240-litre binPaper and cardboard (cardboard crushed and torn to no larger than 50 × 50 cm), glass bottles and jars, cartons, aluminium and steel cans, empty dry paint tins and rigid plastic bottles and food containers. Not plastic bags, polystyrene, window or ovenware glass, crockery, food, green waste or nappies. Put items in loose — not bagged. The council says recycling goes to Cleanaway's Laverton facility.
Food & garden organics (lime-green lid)
Fortnightly, 240-litre bin — started April 2026Collected on the week you don't have recycling. Food scraps (including meat, bones and dairy) and garden waste together, with a 7-litre kitchen caddy. No plastic, 'degradable' or 'biodegradable' liners — use newspaper or paper towel. Declared noxious weeds such as blackberry and gorse are not accepted. Township households can't opt out. The council says the organics go via the Portland Transfer Station to a composting company at Camperdown.
Glass
In the yellow recycling bin — no separate glass service yetThe council's page on the state waste reform says a separate glass service must begin by 2027. As at September 2026 the council has not published a start date or the form it will take.
Find your bin day
Enter your address on the council's 'Find your Collection Date' pageThe 2026–27 printed calendars are split into Week 1 (Cape Nelson and South Portland on Monday; Cape Bridgewater, Dartmoor and Nelson on Tuesday; Heywood, Condah and Narrawong on Thursday) and Week 2 (Portland West east of the Ring Road on Tuesday; Portland CBD, Portland North and Dutton Way on Wednesday; Digby, Merino and Casterton on Thursday; Portland West west of the Ring Road on Friday).Check your bin day →
Transfer stations
Six sites: Portland, Heywood, Dartmoor, Nelson, Jarrad's Road (between Merino and Digby) and Casterton (landfill and transfer station)Fees apply — for example, in 2026–27 a 240-litre wheelie bin of household waste is $11, a car-boot load $21, and a car-boot load of green waste $8. All sites close on Good Friday and Christmas Day, and all except Portland close on a catastrophic fire-danger day. The council gives the Portland Transfer Station's location as Derrill Road, west of Cape Nelson Road (contact page) and as 210 Cape Nelson Road (recycling page); phone (03) 5522 2312.Transfer stations and fees →
E-waste, paint, batteries
E-waste drop-off at the Portland, Heywood, Dartmoor, Casterton, Nelson and Jarrad's Road sites (fees apply)Sustainability Victoria's permanent Detox your Home drop-off at the Portland Transfer Station takes household paint, batteries and compact fluorescent lamps free all year. Printer cartridges can go to the Portland and Casterton customer service centres, several post offices and most transfer stations.
Bulky / hard waste
No kerbside hard-waste collection foundThe council's waste pages (checked September 2026) describe no hard-waste collection; bulky items go to a transfer station at the listed fees. Inferred from the pages — check with the council.
New, extra or replacement bin
Online Waste and Recycling Kerbside Collection formAlso used to join or leave the optional rural service. Only the property owner (or business owner) can make the request. Questions: 1300 453 635.Request a bin →

Bin colours and frequencies are as the council describes them on its own pages in September 2026. The 2026–27 kerbside charge is $512 a year ($287 rubbish + $112 recycling + $113 FOGO), charged on your rates notice to properties that receive the service — see Rates & fees. In its first three months (April–June 2026) the council reports 272.7 tonnes of FOGO collected and 23.1% less kerbside rubbish sent to landfill than a year earlier.

Sources — check it yourself

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.