Where to Recycle Hard-to-Recycle Items in Melbourne (2026 Guide)
If you live in Melbourne and you have a drawer, a shoebox or a whole cupboard of things you suspect are not meant for the yellow bin, you are in very good company. Here is the short version: your kerbside bins handle a narrower range of materials than most of us assume, Victoria has some genuinely excellent free programs for chemicals, paint, batteries and e-waste, and for the small awkward leftovers that none of those cover, you can post them to BRAD from any Australia Post location. This guide walks through all three layers, so you know exactly where each item goes.
Start with your kerbside bins, because they are changing
Victoria is partway through standardising household recycling into four separate streams, and it is worth understanding the system before you sort anything. According to the Victorian Government, the four streams are a purple lid bin for glass, a lime green lid bin for food organics and garden organics (FOGO), a yellow lid bin for mixed recycling, and a red lid bin for general rubbish. Separating the streams is designed to cut contamination and lift the quality of what gets recovered.
The catch is that councils are rolling this out on their own timelines, and they decide bin sizes and collection frequency. So your neighbour two suburbs over may already have a purple bin while you are still putting glass in the yellow one. Always check your council's website rather than assuming, especially if you have moved recently.
One Melbourne-specific quirk worth knowing: Planet Ark's kerbside listing for the City of Melbourne notes that metal lids are fine in the recycling bin whether they are on or off the jar, but plastic lids are not accepted on or off. That single rule is responsible for a surprising number of bottle tops going to landfill across the inner city, and it is exactly the kind of item BRAD was built for. Hold that thought.
Drink containers: claim your 10 cents
Victoria's container deposit scheme, CDS Vic, gives you a 10 cent refund for eligible aluminium, glass, plastic and liquid paperboard drink containers between 150mL and three litres. There are more than 600 refund points across the state, and you can keep the refund or donate it to a community group or charity. Handy tip from the scheme itself: leave the lids on, because they are recycled too.
Chemicals, paint and the scary shed cupboard
This is the category people avoid for years, and it is genuinely the easiest one to solve in Victoria.
Detox Your Home is a free state government program that helps Victorians safely dispose of hazardous household chemicals. As the program explains, it accepts things like bleach and oven cleaner, brake fluid and coolant, pesticides and herbicides, paint thinners, pool chemicals, small equipment fuel and non-halon fire extinguishers. Collections run as drive-through events where trained chemists unload your car for you, so you stay in the vehicle and the whole thing takes about ten to fifteen minutes. There is a safety limit of 20kg or 20 litres per individual container, and a few items such as heating oil, mercury thermostats and propane cylinders need approval in advance by calling 1300 135 410. Motor oil and empty aerosol cans are not accepted at these events.
Paint has its own scheme. Paintback takes unwanted paint and paint packaging free of charge from households and trade painters at more than 165 locations around Australia, up to 100 litres per visit in containers no larger than 20 litres each.
Batteries: B-cycle, and never the bin
Loose batteries in a kerbside bin are one of the biggest causes of truck and facility fires in Australia, so this one really matters. B-cycle is Australia's government-backed battery stewardship scheme, with accredited drop-off points around the country. It accepts standard handheld batteries including AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, 6V and button batteries, rechargeable handheld batteries up to 5kg, batteries you can easily remove from products such as power tools and cameras, and e-scooter and e-bike batteries.
It does not take mobile phone batteries (those go to MobileMuster), laptop or TV batteries, lead acid batteries or exit lighting batteries. B-cycle's advice is simple: do not toss them, tape the terminals with clear sticky tape, then take them to an accredited drop-off point.
Worth being clear here, because we get asked constantly: BRAD does not accept batteries of any kind, including lithium-ion, because of the fire risk in transit. B-cycle is the answer.
E-waste is banned from landfill in Victoria
Since 2019 it has been illegal to put e-waste in household rubbish or landfill in Victoria, and the definition is broader than most people expect. The state government describes e-waste as any item with a plug, battery or power cord, which sweeps in kettles, hair dryers, battery-operated toys, vapes, cables and old televisions.
Most council transfer stations take e-waste, and MobileMuster, the federally accredited program run by the mobile phone industry, takes mobiles, chargers and accessories for free. BRAD does not accept e-waste, phones, tablets, chargers, cables or fairy lights, so please use these routes instead.
Transfer stations and recycling centres
Melbourne's council-run transfer stations are the workhorses for bulky and awkward items, and many accept a long list of things free of charge. As an example of what these facilities can do, the Boroondara Recycling and Waste Centre at 648 Riversdale Road, Camberwell, is open to non-residents for most drop-offs and takes paint, expanded polystyrene, x-rays, small to medium e-waste, fluorescent tubes and globes, batteries, motor oil and mobile phones without charge, while tyres, mattresses, large e-waste and general waste attract fees.
Every Melbourne council runs its facilities a little differently, and free lists change. Look up your own council's transfer station page before you load the car, and check whether proof of residency is needed.
The gap nobody fills, and how BRAD closes it
Work through all of the above and you will still have a pile left over. Plastic bottle top lids. Toothpaste tubes and old toothbrushes. Blister packs from the medicine cabinet. Mascara tubes and lip balms. Dead biros. Bread tags. Metal coffee pods. Single-use cutlery from a party you meant to say no to. None of it is hazardous, none of it is bulky, and almost none of it is welcome in a yellow bin, because these items are too small or too mixed for kerbside sorting machinery to handle.
That is the gap BRAD, the Banish Recycling and Diversion program, was built to fill. You buy a pre-paid label, collect your clean, dry, loose items at home, and drop the parcel at any Australia Post location. Everything comes to our Sydney warehouse, gets sorted into material streams by our team, and goes to specialist Australian micro-recyclers.
Melbourne does not have a BRAD drop-off point. Our only in-person drop-off is in Sydney, so for Victorians the postal label is the BRAD answer, and it works from anywhere in the state. A BRAD Pre-paid Label for a shoebox-sized parcel up to 2kg is $18 for the digital version or $23 printed, and a medium box up to 4kg is $30 digital or $35 printed. If you are organising something for an office, school or community group, the BRAD Mega Box is $290 for recycling processing using your own box, or $350 with the box and signage included.
A quick word on honesty, because it matters more than a longer accepted list: BRAD does not take everything. Alongside batteries and e-waste, it cannot accept razors and razor blades, aerosol cans, perfume bottles, metal bottle tops, plastic or compostable coffee pods, inhalers and asthma puffers, eye drop bottles, syringes, insulin pens, prescription bottles, nasal sprays, bottle top rings and spouts, sponges and kitchen or makeup brushes, nail polish and remover bottles, glue sticks, pencils, erasers, rulers and scissors, or any medical or bio-hazardous waste. Soft plastics are not accepted either, and we have written a separate guide on your real soft plastics options in Australia.
Recycling BRAD from Melbourne
There is no BRAD drop-off in Melbourne, but the postal label works from every suburb. Fill a shoebox with clean, dry items from the accepted list and drop it at any Australia Post location.
See the full BRAD accepted items list or order a BRAD Pre-paid Label.
A quick Melbourne cheat sheet
- Drink containers: CDS Vic refund points, 10 cents each
- Chemicals, pesticides, pool chemicals, solvents: Detox Your Home, free
- Paint: Paintback drop-off sites, free
- Batteries: B-cycle accredited drop-off points, terminals taped
- Phones and chargers: MobileMuster, free
- Other e-waste: council transfer station (landfill ban applies)
- Polystyrene, fluoro tubes, x-rays, motor oil: council transfer station, often free
- Bottle tops, oral care, blister packs, beauty empties, pens, bread tags, metal coffee pods: BRAD by post
Frequently asked questions
Is there a BRAD drop-off point in Melbourne?
No. BRAD's only in-person drop-off is in Sydney, at 490 Pitt Street, Haymarket. For Melbourne and everywhere else in Victoria, the BRAD answer is the pre-paid postal label, which you can drop at any Australia Post location.
Where do I take household chemicals in Melbourne?
Detox Your Home, a free Victorian government program, runs drive-through collection events for hazardous household chemicals including cleaners, pesticides, pool chemicals, solvents and automotive fluids. Containers are limited to 20kg or 20 litres each, and a few items need approval in advance on 1300 135 410.
Can I put batteries in my Melbourne recycling bin?
No. Batteries must never go in any kerbside bin because of the fire risk to trucks and sorting facilities. Take them to a B-cycle accredited drop-off point with the terminals taped. BRAD does not accept batteries either.
What can I do with plastic bottle top lids in Melbourne?
Planet Ark's kerbside listing for the City of Melbourne says plastic lids are not accepted in the recycling bin on or off the container, and small lids are a common problem across kerbside systems because sorting machinery cannot catch them. Plastic bottle top lids are on the BRAD accepted list, so collect them at home and post them in.
Does BRAD accept e-waste from Victoria?
No. E-waste has been banned from landfill in Victoria since 2019 and should go to a council transfer station, or to MobileMuster for phones, chargers and accessories. BRAD does not accept e-waste, cables or fairy lights.