Waste and recycling FAQs

What CAN go in your landfill bin:

• all lids,
• baby wipes and face wipes,
• baking paper: eg waxed paper, muffin pans,
• bandaids, earbuds, wipes, etc.,
• broken glass (wrapped in newspaper),
• broken kitchen and oven ware,
• CDs and DVDs,
• ceramics - broken,
• chip packets/soft plastics,
• cling wrap/plastic flim,
• clothing and textiles,
• coat hangers,
• coffee cups,
• coffee pods,
• cutlery - plastic,
• drinking straws,
• fireplace ash - extinguished,
• foam packaging,
• food and vegetable scraps,
• garden hoses,
• glass - broken, window or drinking, wrapped,
• hair - human or animal,
• hard waste,
• kitty litter,
• laminated paper,
• lolly wrappers,
• manure and animal droppings - bagged,
• meat trays - foam,
• meat and fish bones,
• mirrors - broken and wrapped,
• nappies,
• paper towel and tissues,
• pet droppings and litter,
• plastic shopping bags,
• polystyrene containers and trays,
• pottery, porcelain - broken
• soft plastics,
• storage and baking ware,
• takeaway coffee cups,
• textiles,
• teabags with strings and staples,
• timber - treated,
• tissues and napkins,
• toys - broken
• UHT and long-life cartons,
• vacuum cleaner bags,
• vacuum cleaner dust,
• vegetable scraps.

What CAN'T go in your landfill bin:

• e-waste (anything with a plug or batteries),
• asbestos,
• tyres,
• mattresses,
• garden waste,
• hazardous liquids,
• paint tins,
• motor oil,
• chemical waste,
• batteries,
• light globes,
• recyclables.

Download a copy of the waste disposal guide(PDF, 108KB).

• aerosol cans - empty,
• aluminium and metal cans, foil trays,
• aluminium foil,
• biscuit or meat trays (hard plastic),
• bottles - plastic,
• bottle tops - small,
• bottle tops - larger glass jars,
• cardboard,
• cosmetic containers - plastic,
• deoderant - empty,
• detergent bottles - empty,
• dog and cat food tins - scraped clean,
• egg cartons,
• envelopes - paper,
• greeting cards,
• juice bottles and cartons,
• junk mail,
• magazines,
• margarine containers - scraped clean,
• medicine bottles - empty and clean,
• milk containers,
• newspapers,
• office paper,
• plant pots - empty,
• plastics including drink bottles, shampoo bottles, laundry detergent bottles, milk bottles, food containers (eg. margarine, yoghurt or ice cream containers),
• paper (newspapers, stationary, magazines, etc) and unwaxed cardboard products,
• pizza boxes, brown paper, and cardboard,
• sauce bottles,
• shampoo and conditioner bottles,
• steel cans,
• takeaway food containers - cardboard and plastic,
• telephone books,
• toilet rolls - empty,
• waxed cardboard - shiny,
• yoghurt containers - scraped clean.

Please remember that recycled items need to be packed loose and not in plastic bags, plastic bags can cause process machines to jam and malfunction.

What CAN'T go in your recycling bin:

• polystyrene containers and trays,
• foam packaging,
• bread bags,
• cling wrap,
• squeeze bottles,
• magazine wrapping,
• CD and DVD cases,
• plastic bags,
• nappies and wipes,
• broken crockery,
• aerosol cans (can explode during the sorting process),
• light globes,
• coated cardboard (long-life containers, takeaway coffee cups and some chemical boxes (dishwasher powder, for example) and waxed cardboard,
• milk/juice cartons and UHT/Tetra packs,
• metal pots and pans.

Please don't pack goods in plastic bag, these can cause the processing machines to jam and malfunction.

What CAN go in your glass bin:

• glass bottles and jars (rinse and remove lids).

What CAN'T go in your glass bin:

• broken windows and glassware,
• broken crockery,
• storage and baking ware,
• perfume bottles and lids (corks, plastic or metal lids)

All these items need to be wrapped in newspaper and placed in the red-topped landfill bin.

What CAN go in your green waste bin:

• grass clippings,
• weeds,
• garden prunings,
• small branches and twigs (maximum 100mm diameter x 400mm long).

What CAN'T go in your green waste bin:

• plastic bags,
• garden pots,
• garbage,
• rocks/concrete,
• soil,
• garden hoses.

Sustainability Victoria has some great resources on its website for reducing your household waste.

Depending on what the waste is, most waste that can’t go in bins can be taken to a transfer station.

Find out what waste transfer stations can and can’t accept (including costs), as well as information about other waste disposal services.

Find information about chemical waste disposal.

Have a look at Sustainability Victoria’s website for information on other waste services.

Find our waste charges here.

Find out more about our transfer stations and fees.

To help our collection trucks and to make sure your bin is emptied every time, please put your bin/s near the kerb or roadside with the wheels facing your house or property.

If in doubt, check the lid and follow the arrows showing 'This Side To Road'.

Other tips that help our collection trucks:

• place bins at least one metre apart and close to the road;
• make sure the bin lids can close easily;
• don't jam waste into your bins – this can mean some waste may get stuck in the bin during collection.

Landfill bins are collected weekly in Beaufort and Avoca. Recycling is collected fortnightly, on the same day as landfill. Glass and green waste are collected once every four weeks.

In other areas, (Rural) landfill and recycling bins are collected fortnightly on alternate fortnights, and glass is collected once every four weeks.

Find out when your bin will be collected. 

If your bin wasn’t collected today, there are a couple of things to check first:

• Was it the right collection night for that bin in your area? Check your bin collection dates.
• Did you take your bin out in time for the trucks to collect it? We strongly recommend putting your bins out the night before your scheduled collection day to make sure your bin is collected.
• Bad weather, increased loads, and traffic can cause delays to the truck, so please keep in mind that individual pick up times can vary (collection may not happen first thing in the morning, it may happen later in the day).
• Is there a sticker on your recycling bin? The sticker tells you the bin was checked today and contained a high level of non-recyclable items. Information on the sticker and the accompanying letter tell you what to do next.  
• Collection will only vary on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, and we will let you know about this change. This change usually delays the collection schedule.

If you've sure none of the above is what caused your bin to be missed, report a missed collection by lodging a Customer Action Request, and it will be collected within a week.

If the standard bins are too small or fortnightly collection is not often enough for you, you can apply for more bins, but please know there is an additional cost for this.

Contact our customer service team for more information.

Note: please have a look at Sustainability Victoria's website for more information on how to reduce your waste.

Yes, you will need to bring your bins onto your property as they cannot be left on the nature strip. This stops others from placing items in bins and also prevents them from being damaged.

If you live in a block of units, shared bins may suit you better.

All bins are owned by Council.

Any bins that are lost or damaged will be repaired or replaced.

Please get in touch with our customer service team if you need your bin repaired or replaced.

No, at the moment they cannot.

The easiest way is to make a report is to fill our a Customer Action Request.

You can also lodge a report at the Council offices in person, by telephone, or email.

Nappies can go in your red-topped landfill bin. If odour is a concern, you can double-bag them.

If you’re interested, you can find more information about environmentally-friendly alternatives to disposable nappies on Sustainability Victoria's website.

Pet waste can go in your red-topped landfill bin. If odour is a concern, you can double-bag pet waste.

If you have large amounts of pet waste, it may be worth looking into a pet waste composting system for your home.

Aerosol cans and other pressurised vessels can be safely disposed of through Susatainability Victoria's Detox Your Home events.

They can also be taken to our transfer stations for safe disposal.

Clothes need to be placed in your general rubbish bin.

However, if clothes are in good condition, consider disposing of your unwanted items mindfully by donating them to a recycling or opportunity shop.

Salvation Army Thrift Shop
114A High St, Avoca

Beaufort & District Op Shop
35 Neill St, Beaufort

Beaufort Op Shop
17 Havelock St, Beaufort

The Waste Facilities Levy covers the ability of unimproved properties (i.e. no dwellings) to have access to Transfer Stations and contribute to general township amenity, including public street bins and street cleaning, as well as the environmental rejuvenation of old tip sites and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fees.

You will need to have your bins at the end of your driveway on your road. It may mean leaving your bins just inside your property boundary and taking your waste and recycling down to the bins.

If you have serious concerns about the waste and recycling truck accessing your bins, please lodge a lodge a Customer Action Request telling us about your concerns and that will help us assess any access issues for your property.

Our waste and recycling contractors can collect bins from all properties in the Shire.

If you have serious concerns about the waste and recycling truck accessing your bins, please lodge a please lodge a Customer Action Request telling us about your concerns and that will help us assess any access issues to your property.

If you have any concerns or queries, please contact Council on 1300 797 363.

Find out more about our waste and recycling collection services.