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

Waste & recycling

Southern Grampians provides a three-bin kerbside service — garbage, recycling and food and garden organics (FOGO) — to residents in all its towns. Collection is usually limited to township boundaries; if you live outside them, or on a main road between serviced towns, the council asks you to contact it on 5573 0444 to see whether your property can be included. Households in Mirranatwa and Glenisla use rural garbage skips instead.

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

Garbage (general waste): Weekly, 120-litre binGoes to landfill. The frequency is as the council's 2026–27 fee schedule describes the kerbside garbage service. The council's A–Z guide colour-codes general waste red.
Recycling: Fortnightly, 240-litre binMixed recycling: paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, drink and food cans, and hard plastics of types 1, 2 and 5 — the council's A–Z guide lists item by item what goes in which bin, and colour-codes recycling yellow. Hard plastics of types 3, 4, 6 and 7, plastic shopping bags, soft plastics and polystyrene go in the garbage bin.A–Z waste guide (PDF) →
Food & garden organics (FOGO): Fortnightly, 240-litre bin, on the same day as your garbageFood scraps (including meat, bones and dairy) and garden waste together; the A–Z guide colour-codes FOGO green. The council says the organics currently go to Camperdown to be composted; its own processing facility at the Hamilton Transfer Station is expected to start production in late 2026. The council's kerbside page also refers to a weekly FOGO collection in spring.
Glass: In the recycling bin — no separate glass service yetThe council's A–Z guide notes that, under the state's household recycling reform, glass might have to go in a separate bin from 1 July 2027. As at September 2026 the council has not published how or when.
Find your bin night: Enter your address on the council's collection mapFind your bin night →
Contamination rules (from 2027): Three-strike policy adopted 8 September 2026A first and second contaminated bin get a sticker (and, the second time, a letter from the council); a third can bring a penalty notice under the council's Community Local Law, and the council may suspend the service for repeat cases. A six-month grace period of community education applies before the policy is enforced.
Transfer stations: Eight sites: Balmoral, Branxholme, Cavendish, Coleraine, Dunkeld, Glenthompson, Hamilton (Elijah Street) and PenshurstFees apply and all sites take electronic payment only — for example, in 2026–27 a 240-litre bin of garbage is $25.50, green waste $26.50 a cubic metre, and TVs, computers and printers are free. All sites close on public holidays; on Extreme fire-danger days only Hamilton opens, and on Catastrophic days all close. Building, demolition and commercial waste goes to Hamilton only. Opening hours are published as an image on the council's page.Transfer stations and hours →
Paint, batteries, chemicals: Not accepted at the transfer stationsThe council directs tins of paint to the PaintBack site in Warrnambool (Statewide Waste, 355 Koroit Street), household batteries to collection bins at Aldi supermarkets, and farm chemicals to ChemClear. Empty chemical drums go to drumMuster at all sites.
Bulky / hard waste: No kerbside hard-waste collection foundThe council's waste pages (checked September 2026) describe no hard-waste collection; mattresses, whitegoods and furniture go to a transfer station at the listed fees. Inferred from the pages — check with the council.
Outside the collection zone: Out of Zone two-bin drop-off pass, $472 a year (2026–27)A pre-paid card for drop-offs at any transfer station: 26 × 240-litre recycling and 104 × 120-litre general waste credits.
Missed, new or replacement bin: Report a missed bin within three working days; new or replacement bins $95Bins are the owner's property: lost or stolen bins are replaced at your cost. Bins damaged by the collection contractor are repaired by the contractor.Report a missed bin →

Bin sizes and frequencies are as the council describes them on its pages and in its 2026–27 fee schedule (September 2026); the council's pages don't state lid colours, so we label bins by what they are for. The 2026–27 residential three-bin charge is $472 a year (up from $430), charged on your rates notice — see Rates & fees. The council's free green-waste drop-off vouchers were valid from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026; we found no announcement of a 2026–27 round.

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.