Citywide hard waste collection service to stay

Council has voted to retain the current twice-yearly, citywide hard waste collection service after an extensive community engagement exercise in 2021 showed no clear support to move to an on-demand service.

This decision follows a five-month engagement program from June to October 2021, when we asked the community to tell us how they would like their hard waste managed.

Through an online survey and telephone interviews, we sought to understand if residents would prefer a different model for the hard waste collection service. Several options were offered for consideration:

  1. Retain the existing twice-yearly, citywide collection – in autumn and spring
  2. One citywide collection and one on-demand service where a household can book a collection when they need it.
  3. An on-demand service where households can book two collections at any time throughout the year

By the end of the community engagement program, more than 2,000 residents had responded to the online survey and 400 others had given their feedback via a telephone interview.

What we learned

Residents are satisfied with the hard waste service

A majority of residents (91%) know we provide two free hard waste collections each year, and the vast majority (89%) are satisified with the service – including 41% very satisfied with the service.

No clear preference for hard waste collection service

Repondents were divided in how they wanted the hard waste collectio service to operate.

At the end of the engagement period, just over two in five residents (but less than the majority) elected to retain twice-yearly citywide collections, while the remainder were divided on their preference for the one or two on-demand services per year.

Survey results

OptionsPhone survey Online survey
Retain the existing twice-yearly, citywide collection service in Autumn and Spring43% 47%
Mix of one citywide and one on-demand service per year 38% 29%
Two on-demand services per year 19% 24%

Given the high satisfaction in the current service, and no clear case for change, Council agreed to retain the existing hard waste collection model of a twice-yearly citywide service, in autumn and spring, for the next three years.

Stonnington Waste Transfer Station

More flexibility was a key theme for people who elected to move to an on-demand service.

For those who want to get rid of household items outside of the autumn and spring collection dates, the Stonnington Waste Transfer Station is open year-round for disposal of many common household items such as furniture, ewaste and mattresses.

Visit the Waste Transfer Station page for a full list of items accepted.

Autumn 2022 hard waste wrap up

The recent hard waste collection service happened during March and April 2022, when 754 tonnes of waste, 1,237 mattresses and 57 fridges were collected from nature strips across the city.

The next citywide collection will happen in spring 2022. Households will be notified via an information flyer that will be delivered approximately two weeks before their collection date.

/Public Release. View in full here.