Northern Grampians Shire (VIC) bin day, recycling & waste collection

Waste & recycling

Households in the council's kerbside collection areas have a 120-litre rubbish bin collected every week and a 240-litre mixed recycling bin collected every second week. St Arnaud households also have a food and garden organics (FOGO) bin. The council plans to extend FOGO to the whole shire and add a glass service from July 2027, using a mix of kerbside collection and drop-off points. Put your bins out the night before collection day, half a metre apart and no more than a metre from the kerb.

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Bulky / hard waste collection: Pickup or drop-off for large items that don't fit in your bins.

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Bin collection at a glance

Rubbish (general waste): Weekly — 120-litre binThe council's waste pages don't state lid colours. A second rubbish bin is available for an extra annual charge (see Rates & fees).Kerbside services →
Mixed recycling: Fortnightly — 240-litre binGlass bottles and jars, steel and aluminium cans, plastic bottles and containers, milk cartons, paper and flattened cardboard. No plastic bags, food or garden waste, clothing, electronics or polystyrene. The council publishes a recycling calendar showing which weeks are recycling weeks.Check your collection dates →
Food and garden organics (FOGO): St Arnaud only — collected every second weekFOGO started as a trial in and around St Arnaud in August 2023 and became a standard, paid service there from 1 July 2025. Other towns have no food or garden waste collection yet; garden waste can be taken to any of the three transfer stations for a fee.St Arnaud FOGO service →
From July 2027: FOGO shire-wide and a glass serviceRequired by the state's Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021. The council's June 2026 update to its Waste Management Strategy uses a combination of kerbside and public drop-off services rather than one model for the whole shire. The council has said waste charges will keep rising over the next three budgets as the new services start.Council announcement →
Hard rubbish: No kerbside hard rubbish collection listedTake large items to a transfer station (fees apply; mattresses $50 each). The council's 2026–27 budget includes investigating whether a hard rubbish collection would be feasible and affordable.Transfer station fees →
Transfer stations (tips): Stawell (36 Lavett Rd) — Tue and Thu 1–5pm, Fri 10am–12pm, Sat and Sun 10am–5pm; St Arnaud (329 Old Wedderburn Rd) — Fri 10am–2pm, Sat 12–5pm, Sun 10am–5pm; Halls Gap (4300 Ararat-Halls Gap Rd) — Sun 12–4pmStawell is run by Wimmera Mallee Waste (03 9021 4498); St Arnaud and Halls Gap are run by the council and take cash only. All close on Good Friday, Christmas Day and declared Catastrophic fire danger days; Stawell also closes on New Year's Day. E-waste is free. Asbestos isn't accepted at any of them.Hours and locations →
Find your bin day: Council address lookupSome addresses outside town boundaries may not show; if yours doesn't, call (03) 5358 8700. Christmas Day 2026 collections move to Saturday 26 December.Check your bin day →

Kerbside collection is compulsory in the council's urban collection areas. The council says it isn't accepting new opt-in services from rural (non-compulsory) areas while it reviews the service with its contractor. The frequencies above are from the council's waste pages, the 2026–27 budget and its St Arnaud collection calendar.

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.