Our transfer stations do not accept household chemicals for disposal, and they are not accepted in kerbside bins.

Detox Your Home is a safe, free and easy-to-use service to dispose of highly toxic, unwanted household chemicals. This includes solvents, poisons and cleaning products. For a list of upcoming events and items they accept visit Detox Your Home.

The City Of Ballarat Transfer Station on Gillies Street South is a close, permanent drop-off site for the Detox Your Home program. Ballarat Transfer Station currently does not accept pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and nail polish remover, or chemicals used by businesses for industrial and commercial purposes.

The next Detox Your Home event will be held at Daylesford Transfer Station, Saturday 17 June, 9am to 12pm. 

To register for the event click here.

Drum-Muster

Council participates in the national drumMuster program and is providing a safe way to dispose of eligible agricultural and vet chemical containers.

There are drumMuster cages at the Creswick and Daylesford Transfer Stations. Agvet chemical drums can now be dropped off if they are empty and triple rinsed with no chemical residue on or in the drum. Drums carrying the drumMuster label/embossing will be accepted free of charge. Find out the materials accepted by drumMuster along with details of how to clean your drums.

ChemClear

Another option for the disposal of unwanted farm chemicals is ChemClear.

Visit the ChemClear website or call them on 1800 008 182 to register chemicals for collection. Note that these collections occur in local runs so encourage your neighbours to participate as well.

It is best to try to sell or donate larger items from home that are no longer required. However, these items are accepted at transfer stations. Please see our Transfer Stations page for fees and opening hours. 

Green waste is accepted at our transfer stations. Noxious weeds are not. Please ensure your load of green waste is separated from other waste before you arrive at the transfer station. The green waste must also be free of rubbish. See Transfer Station for fees and opening hours.

A trial kerbside organics collection is underway in Clunes. 

The soft plastics recycling program REDcycle has been suspended as of 9 November 2022.

Soft plastics can't go in your yellow-lid recycling bin and should be disposed of in the red-lid general waste bin. Soft plastics include items such as re-usable shopping bags, newspaper wrapping, bubble wrap, plastic bags, zip-lock bags, biscuit wrapping (not the trays), lolly packs, bread bags, pasta and rice bags, courier satchels, cereal box liners, chip and cracker packets.

Find out more about REDcycle.

Pack your reusables, it’s time to reduce our plastic pollution!

From 1 February 2023 the Victorian Government is banning the following single-use plastics from sale and supply:

• Drinking straws
• Cutlery and plates
• Drink stirrers and sticks
• Cotton bud sticks and,
• Expanded polystyrene food and drink containers.

Items made from conventional, degradable and compostable plastics, including bioplastic and oxo-degradable materials, will be included in the ban. The ban will affect retail and hospitality, businesses, suppliers and other businesses, organisations and non-for profits such as hospitals, sports clubs and schools.

Single use plastics are used briefly but go on to remain in the environment for a long time, making up over a third of all litter. They are difficult to recycle and are a common contaminant in recycling facilities. By banning single use plastics we can minimise waste to landfill, reduce plastic pollution, and protect our wildlife and environment.

There are many great reusable options and alternative single use items to be considered, such as: 

• Cutlery made from stainless steel, bamboo or heavyweight plastic that can be reused.
• Reusable glass, heavyweight plastic, or metal containers/cups.
• Straws made from bamboo, stainless steel, or silicone.
• Cotton pads or buds with bamboo sticks.

Visit Single Use Plastics Ban and Sustainability Victoria for more information and support.

Hepburn Shire is offering residents subsidised compost bins to help you reduce waste to landfill by turning food scraps and garden waste into compost, which can help create great soil at home.

Available from each of the transfer stations from Friday 1 September 2023 *until stocks run out. 

170L roto tumbler $75

220L composter $25

Limit of one per household and proof of residence required.

Find out more about the current Subsidised Compost Bin(PDF, 405KB) offering. 

Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) started in November 2023

Current locations in Hepburn Shire region:

Creswick – The Hub, 68 Albert Street, Creswick - Reverse Vending Machine

Daylesford Industrial Estate, 37-39 East Street, Daylesford - Reverse Vending Machine

Pig & Whistle, 705 James Lane, Trentham East - Reverse Vending Machine

E-waste refers to any item with a plug, battery or cord that is no longer working or wanted. The Victorian Government banned e-waste from landfill as of 1 July 2019. 

Recycling your e-waste is important, but if we can avoid creating it, that is even better. If you have an item that still works, consider trying to find a new home for it first – friends, family, sell it, donate it (check they are happy/can accept).

You can recycle your e-waste (but not in your kerbside recycling bin). Please drop to your local transfer station or, if the item is small, you can take it to your local customer service centre/hub.

Our transfer stations accept e-waste for free from residents.

Items that are considered e-waste:

• Televisions, printers, computer equipment (including monitor and mouse)
• Small appliances – irons, toasters, kettles
• DVD players, microwaves
• Phones, chargers, tablets
• Light bulbs
• Toys with batteries

Please note there is a fee for refrigerators and freezers at the transfer stations. See transfer stations for fees, and Sustainability Victoria for more information.

You can’t put batteries in your rubbish or recycling bin

Most batteries contain hazardous materials that can pollute the environment when disposed of in landfills or when thrown out elsewhere. Materials like lead, cadmium and mercury can poison people and animals and contaminate soils and water, and they stay in the environment for a long time. Discarded batteries also pose a safety risk in garbage trucks as they can start fires.

Batteries (household) can be dropped to:

• Council’s customer service centres/hubs
• Transfer stations

Please note large batteries such as car batteries can ONLY be taken to our transfer stations.

Find a list of commercial battery recycling services.

Milk and drink plastic lids are not accepted in the kerbside bin. Plastic bottle lids are very small and made of different plastics, making them difficult to conventionally recycle. Dispose of your plastic bottle lids at Hepburn Shire Hubs or transfer stations for recycling through Lids4Kids. For more information visit Lids4Kids. 

What lids can we collect?

Mobile phones are considered e-waste and contain hazardous but valuable materials. They are banned from landfill. Hepburn Shire Council recycles mobile phones through local contractor Rixon's Recycling.

Australian plastic recycler Transmutation has teamed up with Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs to turn plastic bread tags into  bowls to raise funds to buy wheelchairs in South Africa. Find out more at Oz Bread Tags for Wheelchairs. 

Lions Recycle for Sight Australia is part of the Lions Clubs International Worldwide Eyeglass Recycling Program. Spectacles are refurbished and distributed globally.

Find out more at Lions Club.

Find out more at Terracycle.

Many light globes contain mercury which is toxic and can harm the environment. They require specialised recycling to ensure the  elements and materials are separated correctly.

Cartridges are made up of a complex mix of materials that can be turned into new products, including plastics, metal, inks and  toners.

Planet Ark has teamed up with Close the Loop and participating manufacturers Brother, Canon, Cartridge World, Epson, HP & Kyocera to ensure these valuable resources are recycled.

For more information visit Planet Ark.