← Borough of Queenscliffe
Waste & recycling

Waste & recycling

The Borough runs a three-bin kerbside service: a red-lid rubbish bin and a yellow-lid recycling bin, each collected fortnightly, and a green-lid food and garden organics (FOGO) bin collected every week. Glass currently goes in the yellow recycling bin — there is no separate glass (purple-lid) bin or glass drop-off service published by the council. Enter your address on the council's Waste Collection Calendar page, or use the Borough Bins app, for your collection 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.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

Bin collection at a glance

Rubbish (red lid)
Fortnightly, 120-litre binCollected Monday to Thursday each fortnight, depending on your address. The council says all household rubbish collected goes to landfill at Drysdale. Keep batteries, chemicals, electrical items, food and garden waste and recycling out of this bin.
Recycling (yellow lid)
Fortnightly (every second week), 240-litre bin for most homesSome units and managed properties still use a 120-litre bin. Takes rigid plastics numbered 1, 2 or 5, paper and cardboard, metal cans and foil, and glass bottles and jars. The council says recycling is processed by Cleanaway in South Geelong.
Food & garden organics (green lid)
Weekly, 240-litre FOGO binFood scraps (including meat, bones and dairy) and garden waste together. Only certified compostable liners labelled 'AS 4736' — no plastic bags, even if labelled 'biodegradable'. Large tree limbs and stumps go to the Drysdale Resource Recovery Centre instead.
Glass
In the yellow recycling bin — no separate glass service at presentVictoria's Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 formalises household access to a four-stream system that includes a separate glass service by 2027, delivered either as a kerbside bin (purple lid) or a drop-off service. In May 2026 the Borough joined the 'Let's Be Clear on Glass' campaign, which asks the Victorian Government to pause the rollout of a fourth household glass bin and expand the Container Deposit Scheme instead. As at September 2026 the council has not published a glass service start date.
Bulky / hard waste
One annual kerbside collection week — 2027 dates not yet publishedIn 2026 items went out from Saturday 20 June and had to be on the nature strip by 6am Monday 29 June; collection ran over the following week. Limits: a pile of no more than 3 cubic metres, items no longer than 1.2 metres and no heavier than 32 kg. Only residential properties paying for the kerbside waste service are eligible. No e-waste, mattresses, whitegoods, green waste, building materials, paint, chemicals or tyres.
E-waste
Free drop-off day once a year (2026: Saturday 16 May, Ocean View car park, Queenscliff)E-waste is banned from Victorian landfill. Batteries, light globes, whitegoods, air conditioners and smoke detectors were not accepted at the drop-off day.
Drop-off: Drysdale Resource Recovery Centre
Becks Road (off Murradoc Road), Drysdale — run by the City of Greater GeelongThe Borough's pages say whitegoods, e-waste, car batteries, gas bottles, oils and paint are accepted there free of charge. The City of Greater Geelong's own page for the centre says its free drop-off service 'is provided for Greater Geelong residents only' and lists fees for some items (for example fridges, freezers and air conditioners). The two sources differ — check with the operator before you go.
Batteries & mobile phones
Collection points at the council office, 50 Learmonth StreetHousehold batteries can also go to Queenscliffe Neighbourhood House, Queenscliffe IGA, Point Lonsdale IGA and the Point Lonsdale News and Post Office. Mobile phones (MobileMuster) at the council office.
Find your bin day
Type your address on the council's Waste Collection Calendar pageOr download the free Borough Bins app (iOS and Android) for reminders.Check your bin day →

Bin colours and frequencies above are as the council describes them on its own pages in September 2026. The 2026–27 residential waste charge is $548 ($365 standard kerbside + $183 public waste) — see Rates & fees. Hard-waste dates change every year; confirm on the council's page before putting anything out.

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.