Merri-bek

Booking instructions

• A booked collection will be either hard waste, bundled branches or cardboard, not all 3 in the same collection.
• Bookings will be confirmed by email directly after booking is placed. A confirmation SMS will be sent the Friday before your collection is booked to take place.
• Neatly place items on the nature strip the weekend before the collection week (by 6am Monday morning of your collection week). Do not place items on your nature strip any earlier.
• Items should be no heavier than two people can lift and less than 1.5m in length.
• Place no more than one cubic metre of items on your nature strip, excess will count as two collections.
• If you are unable to place your waste on the nature strip, make a note in the ‘special instructions’ section of the booking form. Please note we are unable to collect waste from inside the property.
• Do not leave any items of value near hard waste piles as these will be deemed as hard waste and if taken, no compensation will be given.

When do I put my waste out?

Place waste on your nature strip on the Sunday before your booked collection week.   
 
Do not put items out on your nature strip without booking. It is illegal to place items out at any other time and penalties apply under the General Local Law 

A "booked" sticker will be sent to the address you have provided, this sticker is to be placed on your pile of hard rubbish. Your items will still be collected if the sticker is not placed on your pile.  

HARD WASTE

What items will be collected

The following items will be collected through the booked collection service:

• Household (boxed miscellaneous) 
• Household furniture (couch, chair, table etc) 
• Scrap metal (1.5 meters) 
• Mattress and base (1 per household) 
• White goods including washing machines, dishwasher, fridge (with doors removed) 
• E-waste (anything with a plug, cord or inbuilt batteries) 
• Carpet and underlay (1.5 metres) 
• Sheet glass (up to 1.5m) securely wrapped in either cardboard or bubble wrap and CLEARLY labelled Glass. Table tops need to be removed from their frame prior to wrapping
• Timber (up to 10 pieces, no longer than 1.5 metres)

What items will not be collected

Do not place the following items out for collections as they will not be picked up.

• Building waste and renovation materials 
• Concrete sheeting 
• Gas bottles  
• Tyres  
• Chemicals, oils or poisons 
• Paint 
• Household recycling and rubbish 
• Bean bags, polystyrene and foam 
• Hazardous waste including asbestos 
• Commercial or industrial waste 
• Household batteries

What else can I do with my hard waste?

Most items collected through hard waste end up in landfill. If your items are in good condition, consider giving them a second life. Options for reusing goods include:

• Donate: drop of items off at a charity store during business hours, or call on of the charities to arrange a free collection
  • Brotherhood of St Laurence 1300 366 283
  • Diabetes Australia - Victoria 9923 8400
  • St Vincent de Paul Society of Victoria 1800 621 349.

• Sell, swap or give away: there are many online platforms where you can sell, give away, swap or share your pre-loved goods such as 
  Facebook marketplace and free good groups, Zilch, Freecycle and Gumtree.

• Garage Sale Trail: we participate in Garage Sale Trail each year. Garage Sale Trail gives residents and community groups the 
  opportunity to participate in a national weekend of garage sales 
  Go to garagesaletrail.com.au for more information 

• Repair: some broken household items can be fixed at a Repair Cafe. 
  Go to brunswicktoollibrary.org or sussexnh.org.au/whats-on for information and event dates. 

More Information:

Visit merri-bek.vic.gov.au/reducingwaste for more information on how to recycle, reuse or donate items that you no longer need.

Visit merri-bek.vic.gov.au/bookedhardwaste for more information about the booked hard waste service trial.