Brisbane · Queensland

Skip bin hire in Brisbane, from the front gate to the kerb

A guide to hiring and filling a skip in Brisbane, in plain words, published by Dotto from the official sources listed at the foot of each page. It walks the kerb outside a Queenslander one point at a time: where a bin may sit, what Council collects, where garden waste goes, what the tip takes, the waste Queensland regulates, and who to tell about dumped rubbish.

General information about Brisbane City Council’s and the Queensland Government’s rules, not advice about your property. Council and the Queensland Government are the places to check.

The question Council’s footpath page leaves open

Brisbane City Council’s page on footpath works and permits never mentions skip bins by name. It says you need approval to begin works on a public footpath, and that in some situations you will also need a permit. Among the things it says may need a permit is to “deposit equipment or materials on a footway”.

The same page also says when no approval is needed: for using a footway, or putting equipment and materials on one, for less than 48 hours, under the two conditions it lists: the work is outside the Brisbane CBD, which the page ties to the PC1 principal centre (city centre) zone in City Plan’s online mapping, and it isn’t on a state-controlled main road. Whether a hired skip counts as equipment or materials, it does not say. The footpath guide sets out Council’s words in full, with the clear path the page asks you to leave for people walking past.

Where Brisbane’s rubbish can go

Council runs four resource recovery centres: Nudgee and Willawong, the major centres, and Chandler and Ferny Grove, the minor ones. They take waste and recycling that can’t go in your household bins, including bulky items, recyclables, green waste and some hazardous waste. The Brisbane landfill at Rochedale is a different place. Council says it is not open to the general public, and only commercial contractors can dispose of waste there.

Council also collects household items such as furniture and white goods from the kerb on scheduled dates. It leaves behind anything on its unacceptable list, and fines for illegal dumping may apply when those items have not been removed within 7 days of the notified collection period. The kerbside guide has both lists.

A jacaranda in flower. Photo by pattyjansen on Pixabay

Three things to know before the bin arrives

The 48 hours come with a clear path. In the same section as the 48-hour exemption, Council’s footpath page says you must leave a clear distance from the property alignment or kerb at all times, so people can walk past safely: 1.2 metres in residential areas, and 1.8 metres in the CBD or business areas, where more permit conditions may apply.
The tip refuses some things outright. Council’s resource recovery centres do not accept tyres, asbestos, large lithium batteries such as car and solar batteries, or more than a ute load of soil, concrete, bricks, rocks and masonry, among other items on their list. The resource recovery centres guide quotes the whole list.
Some waste is regulated in Queensland. Queensland’s asbestos site says asbestos is classed as a regulated waste under the state’s environmental legislation, so specific requirements apply when anyone transports it. The regulated waste guide explains what that means.

If it might be asbestos

Australia’s national asbestos agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and that a professional doing the job is easier and safer. Brisbane City Council’s advice is to always use licensed contractors and never to handle it yourself.

Council says asbestos left untouched poses no immediate danger, but disturbing it through pressure cleaning, cutting or sanding can release harmful fibres. Queensland’s asbestos site lists what not to do, including: “Saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials.” The national agency adds that high-pressure water, and abrasive methods such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding, should never be used to clean asbestos cement roofs or any other asbestos material.

The national agency says all asbestos waste must go to a landfill site licensed to accept it. Queensland’s asbestos site puts it this way: “Asbestos waste must be disposed of at a landfill site that can lawfully receive asbestos waste.” It also says it is illegal to put asbestos waste in domestic garbage bins. Council’s resource recovery centres turn away asbestos and anything containing it. Queensland’s asbestos site gives two options for disposing of it. The second is a plastic-lined industrial skip “that may have been provided by a waste contractor with an environmental authority to transport regulated waste”. Both are quoted in full in the regulated waste guide.

Bringing the six points to the hirer

Each point along the kerb is a question worth having in mind when you book a bin: where it will sit, how long it will stay, and what is going in it. The answers lead to the rules on these pages, each set out in Council’s or Queensland’s own words.