Most Melburnians assume the council takes care of most of their waste. The bin gets taken out every week, the recycling goes out every fortnight, and every now and then there is a special hard rubbish collection round that comes by. But not many people understand just how limited each of those services is, and just how much of the actual rubbish that households chuck out those services just can’t or won’t touch. And that gap, it’s not tiny, and the consequences of not getting it right range from ringing the council and getting nowhere fast to receiving one of those nasty EPA fine letters in the mail.
What Council Collections Actually Cover (Or Don’t)?
A standard kerbside bin collection service will take away pretty much all the household rubbish on a regular schedule, and in most places they also have a separate stream for green waste and food scraps. They’ll also pick up mixed recycling every fortnight. But what you can’t put in those bins are really heavy or bulky household items like old furniture, a heap of renovation junk, broken appliances, or even just a load of stuff that you want to get rid of all at once, and that’s when Melbourne rubbish removal services are the practical solution.
Hard rubbish collection is a bit of a mess even though it’s supposed to be a service that councils provide. How it works varies from one council to another across the 31 different councils that cover greater Melbourne; some have a system where you can just book online when you want it to come, and others have a whole list of dates that you have to wait for, and then they just go round the suburb when it’s your turn. Some councils have actually given up on kerbside hard rubbish collection altogether and now give residents vouchers so they can take their rubbish to a recycling centre themselves, or they offer cheap days to drop off stuff at a local tip.
The EPA in Victoria keeps track of all this waste data and puts it up on a website every year; it shows how much rubbish is getting put out that doesn’t belong in the kerbside bins, and that’s been driving a few of the Melbourne councils to rethink their waste collection programs over the last few years.
When Private Rubbish Removal Is Actually The Easiest Option?
The most obvious case where a private rubbish removal service is the way to go is if you’re under the gun and need something taken away fast. Council hard rubbish collection might be on a set schedule, but it’s not like they can just come around tomorrow morning to help you out with a big renovation, clear-out or move into a new place. A professional service can come by and get rid of whatever you need to get rid of in the next couple of days, which is a whole lot easier than waiting weeks.
Price comparisons between hiring a skip bin and getting a private rubbish removal service are not as cut-and-dried as you might think. A skip bin rental will cost you a delivery fee, a collection fee, and then a disposal fee based on the weight of the junk at the tip, which is usually not what you got quoted on the phone in the first place. Plus, with a mix of household stuff, it’s hard to know how much you’ve got, so you can’t even be sure what it will end up costing you in the end. On the other hand, a rubbish removal service is based on how much junk they can fit in their truck, so you know exactly what you’re up for, and the people doing the work are included in the price, so you don’t have to do it yourself.
What Happens to the Rubbish Once It Is Picked Up?
Properly operating businesses in Melbourne don’t send all the rubbish to the general landfill. Metals, wood, cardboard, and green waste have their own recycling and processing streams available to commercial operations but not to individual customers due to transfer station arrangements. It saves the business money and provides much better environmental results compared to general waste disposal.
Electronic waste is handled according to the Victorian EPA requirements. Due to a ban on electronic waste being sent to landfill, which was introduced in Victoria in 2019, televisions, computers, monitors, and printers should not be put into the general waste. An operator with appropriate arrangements is able to handle e-waste properly in one visit, while the operator sending electronics as general waste doesn’t do that. Checking it in advance via direct questions is a very reasonable step to take.
How the Pricing Works?
The majority of Melbourne rubbish removal companies price their services based on a truck fraction or load volume. The material type is what causes the difference; concrete, soil, tiles and bricks require special pricing since licensed waste facilities charge a lot more for heavy inert materials than for general household waste.
Three simple questions before booking will provide the real price of the services:
- Does the quote include loading and labour?
- Does it include disposal fees, or is it charged only after weighing the load at the facility?
- Is the operator licensed as a waste transporter under the Victorian EPA requirements?
The operator who is unable to give clear answers on those issues may surprise you with a different invoice later.
Rubbish removal in Melbourne is not a complicated service if the proper operator is selected. And selecting the proper operator requires some specific questions to be asked.
