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Garden waste

We offer a free garden waste collection service for City of Melbourne residents.

You can book one garden waste collection per month that will take place on the specified day for your suburb.

Hands pruning a rosemary bush

We’ll collect a maximum of two cubic metres (2 metres x 1 metre x 1 metre) of garden waste per property per month. All the garden waste that we collect goes on to be composted. 

Bookings are essential and must be made by the Thursday before your relevant collection weekend. 

Place your garden waste in bundles neatly on the kerb by 6am on the day of your collection. When you make your booking, please specify what green waste will be placed out for collection and the location.

Book a garden waste collection

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What we collect

Will be collected

​We’ll collect anything that grows in your garden: 

  • bundles of vines, creepers and weeds
  • leaves, lawn clippings and flowers (you can place these in a plastic crate or box that we’ll empty out and leave on your nature strip)
  • small bundled branches and trunks (no bigger than 1 metre in length and 20 cm in diameter).

Won't be collected

​We won’t collect any of the following materials that can damage composting equipment or contaminate the compost: 

  • rubbish 
  • plastic bags and food packaging
  • potting mix, soil and ash
  • treated timber
  • gardening equipment 
  • plant pots
  • polystyrene and styrofoam. 

Report a missed collection

​If your green waste was not collected by 4pm on the booked collection day, you can report it online. Please have the reference number or date of your booking handy.

Report a missed garden waste collection

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Other disposal options

​Residents can drop off garden waste for free at the Dynon Road Waste and Recycling Centre. You must show a current City of Melbourne address on a rates notice, driver's licence or utility bill.

Female resident disposing of waste in bin

Food and garden organics bin

Waste collection services

In June 2021, we introduced a new food and garden organics bin with weekly collections. The service is being introduced in stages.

Household can put garden waste, food scraps and compostable kitchen waste in their lime-green lid bin. The waste collected is processed into mulch and nutrient-rich compost for use on Victorian farms and our parks and gardens.

our acknowledgement

  • Torres Strait Islander Flag
  • Aboriginal People Flag

The City of Melbourne respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we govern, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin and pays respect to their Elders past and present. 

 

We acknowledge and honour the unbroken spiritual, cultural and political connection they have maintained to this unique place for more than 2000 generations.

We accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and are committed to walking together to build a better future.