Garbage and recyclables must be stored in a bin, skip or other appropriate container within your property boundaries. You must also ensure that the waste stored does not cause a nuisance or a hazard to surrounding properties.
Please ensure that:
- if you don’t have a garbage and recycling collection service, you contact the City of Melbourne or a private company to arrange a service that is adequate for your business’s needs
- if you can’t fit all the waste generated by your business in the bins you have now, you contact your waste collection provider and request more bins, larger bins or more frequent collection so that they are never overflowing
- if your bins are smelly and unhygienic, you arrange for them to be regularly cleaned to reduce odours and health risks
- if your bins are damaged, broken or leaking, you ask your waste collection company to swap them for bins in good condition
- if you have a problem with mice, rats, wasps, or other vermin around your bins, you contact a pest control company to address the problem.
Where you can put your bins
Your business must store all bins and waste within the premises. In extreme cases where this is not possible, you must apply to the City of Melbourne for special permission to store your bins in an appropriate place outside your premises.
A fine of $500 applies for non-compliance.
We recommend that all bins stored outside must be secured with a lock for safety and to ensure that other businesses are not using your bins without your knowledge.
For more information or to apply for permission to store your bins on the street contact the City of Melbourne on (03) 9658 9658.
Apply for a bin label
Under the new laws, every business within the central City of Melbourne must have their bins clearly labelled.
Use the online form to apply for free bin labels from the City of Melbourne.