The City of Greater Geelong are moving to standardise our bin sizes to two options:

• 120 L (the size of most red rubbish bins) and,
• 240 L (the size of most yellow recycling and green garden bins).

This will make the storage and maintenance of bins more efficient as rising landfill and other costs continue to put pressure on waste charges.

From 1st July 2025 or when existing stock runs out, all requests for new and replacement red rubbish bins will be provided a 120 L bin with the Victorian standard bright red lid.

New green garden and yellow recycling bins will continue to be 240 L, except for households that have requested smaller bins.

Currently, a minority of residents have a 140 L red bin at no extra cost due to a trial on whether larger bins were more stable. These residents will be able to keep their current bin until it needs to be replaced.

Larger households can continue to upsize their red bin to 240 L for a fee. The City also offers larger bins if a household has medical needs at no extra cost.

Will I get a reduction in rates because of a smaller bin?

No. The majority of Greater Geelong residents already have a 120 L red rubbish bin at the same waste charge, so this change will help to make the current system fairer and more sustainable.

If your household requires a larger bin, you can upsize to a 240 L bin for an additional cost.

Why didn’t you increase all bins to 140 L, instead of downsizing some to 120 L?

Our aim is to try to keep costs as low as possible for the largest number of ratepayers, while also trying to reduce the impact of waste on the environment.

General rubbish is the most expensive and environmentally challenging type of waste to dispose of, and this cost is expected to rise. For instance, this year alone, the Victorian Government’s landfill levy will increase by 30 percent, which will affect Greater Geelong’s waste charge.

Most residents already use a 120 L bin and find it suitable for their needs. As 140 L bins are the minority, changing all bins to this size would cost ratepayers much more. As an example, ordering 140 L instead of 120 L bins for all of Greater Geelong costs about $400,000 more.

Will community be consulted on this change?

The majority of residents are not affected as most bins are 120 L.

Most Victorian councils also use 120 L bins, unless they have a less frequent collection. For example, Surf Coast and Warrnambool have 140 L bins as standard, but have their rubbish picked up fortnightly.

We will be holding a community consultation on bin frequency and capacity in late 2025. If you’d like to be updated when this happens, please sign up to our waste newsletter at geelong.link/rethink