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                    Garden waste

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                    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.

                    ​​​​​​​​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. 

                    Please 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.

                    Transfer station closure
                    Due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions the Dynon Road Transfer station is currently closed.

                    What garden waste 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).

                    What garden waste 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.

                    What if my garden waste wasn’t collected?

                    ​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. 

                    Other drop-off locations

                    ​Residents can drop off garden waste for free at the Citywide Transfer Station and Resource Recovery Centre.

                    Residents must show a current City of Melbourne address on a rates notice, driver's licence or utility bill. 

                    Food and garden organics – weekly collections

                    In June 2021, we introduced a new food and garden organics bin with weekly collections. The service will be introduced in stages and will initially be for houses and single-storey apartments.

                    You'll be able to put food scraps and compostable kitchen waste in your new bin, as well as garden waste. The waste collected will be processed into mulch and nutrient-rich compost for use on Victorian farms and our parks and gardens.

                    For more information, see Food and garden organics service.

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