At a glance
- Interim centre
- Geelong Resource Recovery Centre (Interim), 21 Slevin Street, North Geelong; 8am to 4:15pm, 7 days; free drop-off of common recyclables for Greater Geelong residents
- Drysdale centre
- Drysdale Resource Recovery Centre, Becks Road (off Murradoc Road), Drysdale; 8am to 4:15pm; general waste fees from $83 (2026-27 fees), free drop-off of many recyclables
- Closed
- Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Good Friday, at both centres
- Hard waste
- Two hard waste and two mattress collections per eligible property each financial year, no added cost for eligible residents
- Who it’s for
- Greater Geelong residents with household recycling, e-waste, mattresses or bulky items to dispose of
- What to do now
- The tables below list what each centre accepts, the Drysdale fees and the hard waste booking rules as the City publishes them
- Last checked
- Tuesday 10 November 2026, against four City of Greater Geelong pages updated between 29 September and 29 October 2026
- Not yet confirmed
- When the main Geelong centre at 100 Douro Street reopens: the City says only that it is being redeveloped
Greater Geelong residents can drop off clean glass, flattened cardboard, e-waste, car batteries and polystyrene for free at the interim recovery centre at 21 Slevin Street, North Geelong, which is open 8am to 4:15pm every day except three. General waste goes to the Drysdale centre, where fees start at $83. Large items can go on a free hard waste collection. Everything below is from the City of Greater Geelong’s own pages, read on 10 November 2026.
Where can I drop off recycling in Geelong at the moment?
The City runs two resource recovery centres, and the main Geelong one is closed for redevelopment.
| Centre | Address | Hours | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geelong Resource Recovery Centre (Interim) | 21 Slevin Street, North Geelong 3215 | 8:00am to 4:15pm, 7 days a week | (03) 5272 5101 |
| Drysdale Resource Recovery Centre | Becks Road (off Murradoc Road), Drysdale | 8:00am to 4:15pm | (03) 5251 2935 |
The City describes the interim site as a smaller, short-term site for the most common types of drop-off recyclables while the main site at 100 Douro Street is being redeveloped. It says the interim site cannot safely accept every type of waste that other centres accept. Both centres are closed on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Good Friday. The Drysdale page adds that the site may close unexpectedly on very windy days and suggests checking its Google Maps listing or phoning before a visit. The free drop-off service is provided for Greater Geelong residents only and is not intended for commercial quantities.
Neither centre is a Victorian Container Deposit Scheme drop-off point, the City notes, even though both accept excess recycling.
What can I drop off free at the interim centre in North Geelong?
- clean glass bottles and containers;
- clean flattened cardboard, up to 0.5 cubic metres, free of plastics, polystyrene and other material;
- domestic quantities of e-waste and appliances: small electrical items such as hair dryers and radios; small appliances such as microwaves, kettles, toasters and coffee machines; televisions; electric tools; mobile phones, computers and accessories; and vapes;
- wet cell car batteries, with the terminals covered by tape or plastic caps (no lithium batteries);
- gas BBQ bottles up to 9 kilograms;
- clean polystyrene or styrofoam, up to 0.5 cubic metres.
The City says it cannot accept large appliances such as fridges and washing machines at the interim site, and points to a hard waste collection or the alternative sites listed further down.
What is free at the Drysdale centre?
Drysdale accepts a wider list. Small quantities of sorted recyclable material, up to 0.5 cubic metre, are free: aluminium cans, cardboard (emptied and flattened, with no plastic or styrofoam), glass bottles and jars without lids, metal cans, paper, and rigid plastic containers labelled 1, 2 and 5, plus up to two fire extinguishers. Unsorted recycling is not accepted.
Domestic quantities of these items are also free:
- car batteries (terminals covered) and household batteries;
- clean rigid plastic items such as outdoor furniture, buckets, crates and tubs (plastic codes 1, 2 and 5);
- computer items and accessories, and small electrical items such as kettles, hair dryers and toasters, plus televisions, tools and vapes;
- fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent light bulbs;
- gas BBQ bottles up to 9 kilograms, limit 4 per transaction;
- hot water services;
- cooking oil and motor oil, a maximum of 30 litres per transaction in containers of no more than 5 litres;
- paint and paint tins, up to 100 litres per transaction;
- scrap metal such as lawn mowers, and tyre rims without tyres;
- white goods: ovens, dryers, microwaves, washing machines and dishwashers.
The City says it does not accept flares, hazardous liquids or chemical waste at either centre, and that fuel and gas cylinders from vehicles are not accepted at Drysdale.
How much does it cost to tip at Drysdale?
The Drysdale page lists fees from 1 July 2026. All fees include GST. The City notes that where load types vary, a charge of $110 per cubic metre applies.
| Load | Size | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Waterline: utility or single axle trailer | up to 0.75 m³ | $83.00 |
| Waterline: tandem trailer | up to 1.0 m³ | $110.00 |
| Heaped: utility or single axle trailer | up to 1.0 m³ | $110.00 |
| Heaped: tandem trailer | up to 2.0 m³ | $220.00 |
| Caged: single axle trailer | up to 1.5 m³ | $165.00 |
| Caged: tandem trailer | up to 3 m³ | $330.00 |
| Caged heaped: single axle trailer | up to 2 m³ | $220.00 |
| Caged heaped: tandem trailer | up to 4 m³ | $440.00 |
Fees for individual items:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Car boot, half load, up to 0.2 m³ | $21.00 |
| Car boot, half load, up to 0.4 m³ | $41.50 |
| Car tyre, up to 1000 mm diameter (limit of 10) | $12.00 |
| Car tyre with rim (limit of 10) | $16.00 |
| Truck tyre, up to 1200 mm diameter (limit of 10) | $38.50 |
| Mattress, any size (limit of 6) | $29.00 |
| Fire extinguishers (limit of 6) | $7.00 |
| Solar panels (limit of 5) | $15.00 |
| Fridges, freezers and air conditioners | $20.00 |
| Domestic asbestos, booking required | $83.00 |
Fees as listed by the City on 10 November 2026. Tipper trailers 2.7 metres or longer must be unloaded by hand or driven directly to the Drysdale Landfill tip face, where weighbridge fees apply. Drysdale accepts only small domestic quantities of asbestos, no larger than a six by four trailer, and none without a prior booking.
How do I book a free hard waste or mattress collection?
Eligible residential properties get two hard waste collections and two mattress collections each financial year. As of January 2026, mattress-style bed bases need a hard waste booking. To use the service, the City says you must:
- be booking for a residential property with a full waste charge, listed as “Waste Management Charge” on your rates notice; no commercial properties or vacant land;
- be living at the property for the whole collection week, Monday to Friday;
- not have used two collections already in the current financial year;
- be able to put the waste out on the Sunday before the collection week, at the front of the property away from cars and the house; back yard collection is not allowed.
New owners and tenants are affected by earlier bookings: if a previous owner or tenant has already made two bookings for the service this financial year, the City says you wait until the next one.
| Rule | What the City says |
|---|---|
| When collections happen | Any time between 6am Monday and 5pm Friday of your booked week; put items out by Sunday night |
| How to present | One pile, on flat, easily accessible ground with no steps or steep slopes, within 5 metres of the front boundary entry point; not on a trailer, porch, verandah or carport, and not next to cars |
| Size limit | 3 cubic metres: no more than 3 metres long, 1 metre high and 1 metre wide |
| Weight | Items need to be liftable by 2 people; heavy items may not be collected, at the drivers’ discretion |
| Mattresses | Up to two mattresses per mattress booking; electronic adjustable beds cannot be collected because of their weight |
| Separate bookings | A hard waste booking and a mattress booking are made separately, in the same week if slots are available, and placed apart from each other |
| Cancelling | No later than the Thursday before the booked week, or the booking counts as one of your services for the year |
If more than three cubic metres is put out, the City says it collects up to the allowed volume in this order: couch, furniture, timber and mattress-style bed bases (one base counts as one cubic metre); then white goods, small car parts, lawn mowers and tools, hot water systems and metal; then televisions, electrical appliances and e-waste. The hard waste provider’s number is (03) 5272 5444 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm), and cancellations can also go to wasteadmin@geelongcity.vic.gov.au. Units and flats may need nature strip approval, because rear units cannot be collected.
Where does e-waste go in Geelong?
The City defines e-waste as any item with a battery or a cord and says it is illegal to put any type of e-waste in landfill in Victoria. E-waste can be dropped off free at both resource recovery centres. Small items can also be dropped off free at the recycling station at the Wurriki Nyal Civic Precinct, and computer-related e-waste at participating Officeworks stores. The City asks people to remove batteries first and to leave battery covers off so staff can see they are empty. If an item is too big to transport, such as an old-style television, you can book a free hard waste collection.
The City says about 10 to 15 tonnes of e-waste leave Geelong’s resource centres and hard waste collections each week for processing at Sircel in Dandenong.
Where else can I take items the City does not accept?
The City lists other sites and notes that most are not run by the City, that fees may apply, and that prices and details may change without notice.
| Item | Other places the City lists |
|---|---|
| Landfill and general rubbish | Drysdale centre; Recycle North Geelong, 116 Furner Avenue, North Geelong; Fyansford Landfill, Lower Paper Mills Road, Fyansford; Wyndham Transfer Station and Landfill, 470 Wests Road, Werribee |
| Cardboard | Drysdale (free); Recycle North Geelong; GT Recycling, 100 Point Henry Road, Moolap, Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm (call 5248 0473 first); Visy Recycling, 282 Thompson Road, North Geelong, Monday to Friday 7am to 3pm, domestic quantities only |
| E-waste and whitegoods | Hard waste collection; Drysdale; Recycle North Geelong |
| Garden waste | Drysdale; Recycle North Geelong; Green Care Mulching, 72-80 Buckley Grove, Moolap |
| Mattresses and furniture | Hard waste collection; Drysdale; Recycle North Geelong |
| Metal | Drysdale (free); Recycle North Geelong; Sims Metal, 266 Thompson Road, North Geelong |
| Polystyrene | Recycle North Geelong (the interim centre also takes clean polystyrene up to 0.5 m³) |
Sources
- City of Greater Geelong: Geelong Resource Recovery Centre (Interim) (page updated 29 October 2026; read 10 November 2026)
- City of Greater Geelong: Drysdale Resource Recovery Centre (page updated 5 October 2026; read 10 November 2026)
- City of Greater Geelong: Book a hard waste or mattress collection (page updated 19 October 2026; read 10 November 2026)
- City of Greater Geelong: Electronic waste recycling in Geelong (page updated 29 September 2026; read 10 November 2026)
Featured image: Disused tracks of the former Fyansford Cement Works railway at North Geelong, October 2026 (photo: Totallynotarandomalt69 / CC0) (text added)
OZ Local Updates is an independent local guide and is not affiliated with the City of Greater Geelong. Fees, hours and rules can change; check the City’s website before you go.