Waste and Recycling FAQ

Illegal dumping is the deliberate or unauthorised disposal of any waste onto private or public land where no license or approval exists to accept such waste.

It is a significant financial, environmental and social problem, it pollutes our roadsides, chokes our waterways and can threaten wildlife. It is also a lost opportunity to re-use dumped materials.

Illegal dumping can vary significantly from a small bag of rubbish to large household goods such as whitegoods, mattresses and furniture or building (construction and demolition) materials, abandoned cars, car parts or hazardous waste such as asbestos, tyres or chemical drums in isolated areas.

Illegal dumping includes dumping household rubbish in public place bins, such as those in town centres, public parks and reserves and roadside rest and picnic areas.

These bins are for the public to use and are serviced using money from rate payers. When household rubbish is dumped into public place bins, they need to be serviced more frequently. Dumping household rubbish into public place bins also causes inconvenience for users of the public space.

Illegal dumping can pose a direct threat to the environment and human health. Please report someone dumping rubbish or dumped rubbish, so we can investigate it.

You can:

• Call Council on 03 5755 0555
• Call EPA Victoria on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) -  24hour hotline
• Use EPA’s Report Litter App to report with your smartphone

Please follow these safety instructions when you see illegal dumping or find rubbish:

• Do not approach the individuals who are illegally dumping
• Do not let the illegal dumpers know you are there
• Do not touch the illegally dumped material for your own safety

Your yellow lid bin is for the collection of material that can be recovered and remade into useful products.

The following items can be put in this bin:

• Paper and cardboard
• Empty pizza boxes
• Glass containers and bottles
• Steel cans and empty aerosols
• Aluminium cans, trays and foils
• Plastic; containers, lids, biscuit inserts, cutlery and planting pots
• Margarine, yoghurt and ice-cream containers
• Milk, juice, soft drink and sauce bottles
• Detergent bottles, shampoo bottles

The following items cannot be put in this bin:

• Plastic bags or any soft flexible plastics
• E-Waste (electronic items)
• Batteries, globes, printer cartridges
• Hazardous chemical containers
• Nappies
• Food

Important points to remember:

• Everything should be loose, not in a plastic bag
• All containers must be empty
• No need to rinse, just scrape clean

Your red-lid garbage bin is for the disposal of garbage that cannot be recycled. What you put in this bin goes to the landfill.

You put the following in the waste bin:

• Hard plastics (not recyclable containers)
• Nappies
• Polystyrene foam
• Broken crockery and glass
• Plastic wrapping (or take it to your local supermarket)
• Plastic bags (or take them to your local supermarket)
• Waxed Cardboard
• Broken toys (non electronic)
• Rope and string
• Hygiene products
• Food waste (if you cannot compost it)

The following items should not be put into your kerbside bin and can be taken to one of Council’s three Transfer Stations for disposal.

Your yellow lid bin is for the collection of material that can be recovered and remade into useful products.

Prohibited materials: chemicals, hazardous waste and liquid waste.

Cement sheet delivered to the Transfer Stations which cannot be identified as such is to be treated as asbestos.

Loads must be covered and secured to prevent material falling from vehicles and littering our roadsides.

Recycling

• Residents pay $91.13 in recycling charges for the fortnightly collection of 140-, 240- or 360-liter bins.
• Commercial rates are $182.38 for weekly collection in specific areas.

Waste

• Residents pay $222.06 for the weekly collection of an 80-litre bin, or for the fortnightly collection of a 240-litre bin waste in specific rural areas.
• Residents pay $492.35 for the weekly collection of a 240-litre bin.

Waste Management Charge

Each property and business pays $80.00 for the cost to manage the waste and recycling service, and to operate landfills. This includes the cost to clean up the landfills in future.

At the transfer stations, you can NOT dispose of:                                          

• Chemicals
• Hazardous waste (except for batteries, fluorescent tunes and CFL lamps and paint )
• Liquid waste (except for engine and cooking oil and  paint at the Porepunkah and Mt Beauty sites)
• Commercial Quantities (conditions apply)
• Industrial and Commercial waste (conditions apply)
• Asbestos (accepted at the Porepunkah site)

For more information contact the Transfer Station Supervisor on 03 5755 0555.

You can collect free mulch (when available) from any of Council’s three Transfer Stations.

Assistance with loading is at:

• Porepunkah:
  • Between 12-1pm when open (2m³ maximum)
• Myrtleford: 
  • Between 1 - 2pm when open (2m³ maximum)
• Mount Beauty:
  • Free mulch loading assistance days will take place from time to time and the dates will be advertised on the website and on Facebook. Please call 0448 514 064 for more information.

Due to safety requirements we will only load onto tray back utes and trailers. Other vehicles will be declined. We will not load during wet or poor weather conditions. When mulch is wet the weight substantially increases so only safe amounts (which may be less than 2m3) will be loaded to avoid exceeding customer trailer/vehicle weight capabilities.

A Mulch Indemnity Form must also be signed and dated.

If loading assistance is not required, mulch can be taken anytime during trading hours at any of the three sites.

The Halve Waste initiative encourages communities to manage their waste and recycling, with the goal of halving waste by 2020. The Halve Waste website has a wealth of information and tips on how to reduce, reuse and recycle.