Waste removal in Melbourne: hard waste collection, skip permits and the Victorian landfill levy

Quick answer: The City of Melbourne gives each household one free hard waste collection of up to one cubic metre per financial year, booked in advance. A skip bin on a City of Melbourne road needs a permit applied for by the skip company: $102.50 per application plus $102.50 per parking bay per day. The Victorian landfill levy in metropolitan Melbourne is $177.19 a tonne from 1 July 2026, and anyone carrying reportable priority waste such as asbestos needs an EPA Victoria permit or registration.

How waste removal works in Melbourne

Greater Melbourne has 31 councils, each with its own hard rubbish rules. This guide uses the City of Melbourne, which covers the CBD and inner suburbs such as Carlton, Docklands, Southbank, North Melbourne and Kensington. If you live elsewhere, check your council’s hard waste service, because some offer more collections or charge for them.

Hard waste collection

We read the City of Melbourne’s hard waste page in September 2026. The key rules:

Rule	What the City says
Allowance	One free collection per financial year, up to one cubic metre (1 m by 1 m by 1 m)
Booking	Essential; dates are released two months ahead. In a high-rise, ask your building manager to book
Setting out	On the kerb or an accessible spot the day before; crews will not enter your property
Accepted	Furniture, mattresses, household appliances (doors removed), e-waste of all sizes, metal, hot water units, tools, toys, bikes, pottery, wrapped sheet glass, small rolled rugs, timber under 1 m (up to 10 pieces)
Not eligible	Commercial or retail addresses
Missed collection	Report it online if items are not collected by 4pm on the day

For more than a cubic metre, or for building waste, the City points residents to a skip or to the Dynon Road Waste and Recycling Centre, where charges may apply. Residents can also book one free garden waste collection a month. Before paying to get rid of a fridge, see our guide to fridge and freezer disposal.

Skip bins on City of Melbourne roads

The City asks for skips to go on private land wherever possible. If that is not possible, the company that owns the skip must hold a permit before placing it on the road.

Rule	What the City says
Application fee	$102.50; $205 if the skip will be placed or removed outside local law hours
Permit fee	$102.50 per parking bay (or 6 m of kerb) per day
Who applies	An authorised representative of the skip company, with $20 million public liability insurance
Hours	Placed or collected 7am to 7pm weekdays and 8am to 3pm Saturday
Where not	Clearways, no stopping areas, bike lanes, footpaths, nature strips, bus, taxi and disability bays, Bourke Street Mall and Swanston Street between Flinders and La Trobe streets
Distances	Not within 20 m of traffic-light intersections, 10 m of other intersections, or near crossings, bus and tram stops
No permit needed	Inside a construction permit zone, while the sign’s hours apply

The skip must sit parallel to the kerb in a parking bay or loading zone and cannot stand on the road while a red-sign restriction such as a clearway applies. See our guide to hiring a skip.

Hazardous waste and EPA permits

In Victoria you must not transport reportable priority waste without EPA permission: a permit (A10a) for high-risk waste or a registration (A10b) for other reportable priority waste. The duty covers anyone who causes or permits the transport, so if you are paying someone to take away asbestos, chemicals or contaminated soil, EPA Victoria says to check the transporter on its public register first. Loads under 50 kg or litres carried for no fee are exempt.

Illegal dumping

In March 2026 EPA Victoria fined a Ravenhall skip bin company $10,176 for unlawfully depositing more than 1,000 litres of waste on rural land at Beveridge, after officers traced paperwork in the dumped skip loads back to the customers who had hired it. The EPA’s advice to anyone hiring a skip: choose a reputable firm, make sure it uses EPA Waste Tracker, ask for receipts showing the waste went to a licensed landfill or recycling facility, and beware of suspiciously low prices. Report dumping to EPA Victoria on 1300 372 842.

Typical private prices in Melbourne

For typical private prices, use the national ranges in our Australia waste removal costs guide. All figures are in Australian dollars. We did not find a published, independent Melbourne-only price list we could check, so treat the national ranges as a guide. The Victorian metropolitan landfill levy of $177.19 a tonne (2026-27) is built into every Melbourne tip fee. Weight matters as much as size, because tip fees include the state landfill levy; soil, bricks and tiles fill a bin’s weight limit long before its volume. See soil and rubble removal.

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We are a comparison and referral service, not a waste removal company. We do not guarantee a quote, a price or a response time. In the UK, always check the carrier's waste carrier registration before handing over waste.

How to choose a provider in Melbourne

State licensing for waste transport is aimed mainly at hazardous waste, so for ordinary household rubbish the checks that matter are about where your waste ends up. For reportable priority waste, the transporter needs an EPA Victoria permit or registration you can check on the EPA public register. Before you book:

Get the price in writing, including GST, the hire period, the weight limit and the charge per tonne over it, and surcharges for mattresses, tyres or heavy waste.
Ask where the waste goes and for a tip or recycling receipt. A price far below the rest is a warning sign.
For a bin on the road, ask who applies for the council permit and whether the fee is included.
Tell them about any hazardous material before they quote. Suspected asbestos is a job for a licensed removalist; see our guide to suspected asbestos.

Our checklist on comparing waste removal quotes works for Australian quotes too.

Waste removal businesses in Melbourne

These firms appear in public business listings for Melbourne and the surrounding suburbs. We have not checked their work, prices, licences or insurance, and they have not paid to appear.