Accepted items and fees

What are soft plastics?

Soft plastics are plastics that can be scrunched in your hand and bounce back to their original shape or flexible films such as bubble wrap or cling wrap.

Soft plastics cannot be recycled through the commingled kerbside recycling bin (yellow lid) as they can get stuck in the trucks and sorting machinery. Soft plastics can be recycled through specialist recycling services.

A recent audit of kerbside general waste bins (red or dark green lid bin) showed that up to 70% of the general waste was soft plastics. If a household wishes to reduce their household waste and recycle more, they can do so by collecting their soft plastics in a bag and dropping them at a resource recovery facility. 

Accepted Items 

Please ensure all plastics are completely dry and free of food and other products.

Plastic bags

• Plastic carry bags
• Bulk bags. Such as: rice bags
• Reusable shopping bags ‘green bags’ (polypropylene)
• Netting produce bags (metal clips removed)
• Pet food and stock feed bags. Such as: dry pet food bags, chaff/horse/chicken feed (plastic and woven polypropylene)
• Zip lock and snap lock bags

Plastic Films

• Bubble wrap
• Cling wrap
• Documents sleeves (white reinforcement strip removed)
• Large sheets of plastic furniture wrap
• Pallet wrap
• Plastic film from grocery items. Such as: toilet paper and disposable nappies.
• Shrink wrap

Other items

• Bread bag tags (collected separately in a clear plastic bag)
• Plastic bottle caps (collected separately in a clear plastic bag)

What items are not accepted?

Any soft plastic item that is not listed above.

At this stage some soft plastics for example silver lined chip, silage wrap and snack wrappers are not yet accepted. We hope to expand the service and add more items to the list soon. 

Check out our waste A-Z guide on our website or the MRSC waste app for a comprehensive list of waste items or contact Customer Service on (03) 5422 0333 or mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au with your query.

What happens to the soft plastics?

The resource recovery facility soft plastic trial has been successfully collecting 100-150 cubic metres a month (or 4 tonnes a week).

We have encountered some contamination issues, particularly with small plastics.

Council is working with the current provider and testing additional waste education messaging to overcome the contamination issue.

Council is planning to be in a position by the end of the financial year to test the market for an ongoing service.

• Per bag (120 litres): $9.50
• Drum (200 litres): $21
• Wheelie bin (240 litres): $21
• Small boot: $23.40
• Small Ute/station wagon: $45.50
• Small tray Ute: $68.90
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x1): $52.50
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x2): $105
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x3): $157.50
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x4): $210
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x1): $87.50
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x2): $175
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x3): $262.50
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x4): $350
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x1): $172.50
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x2): $344.50
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x3): $517
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x4): $689
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x1): $184
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x2): $367.50
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x3): $551.50
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x4): $735

Macedon Ranges residents

Free for all sized loads.

Residents must provide proof of residence such as a rates notice or driver licence.

General waste fees apply for some items such as weeds, ivy and other species. To view a complete list and find out more, see Green waste drop-off.

Non-residents/commercial

• Per bag (120 litres): $8.90
• Drum (200 litres): $18.90
• Wheelie bin (240 litres): $18.90
• Small Boot: $21
• Small Ute/station wagon: $61.80
• Small tray Ute: $40.80
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x1): $40.50
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x2): $81
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x3): $122
• Vehicle/trailer (6x4x4): $162
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x1): $69.80
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x2): $140
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x3): $209
• Vehicle/trailer (8x5x4): $279
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x1): $98.30
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x2): $197
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x3): $295
• Vehicle/trailer (10x6x4): $393
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x1): $134
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x2): $268
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x3): $402
• Vehicle/trailer (12x7x4): $536

Please separate your paper and cardboard before attending the resource recovery facility.

• Household quantities: no charge
• Commercial loads per m3: $27
• Ute/station wagon: $27
• Trailers (all): $27

• Household quantities: no charge
• Commercial loads per m3: $27
• Ute/station wagon per m3: $27
• Trailers (all) per m3: $27

• All sizes: $30

• Car: $10
• Car tyre with rim attached: $10
• Light truck: $25
• Truck: $45
• Tractor: $230

Macedon Ranges Shire residents 

• All E-waste (Electronic waste - any appliance with a plug, cord or battery): no charge 
• Mobile phones: no charge
• Batteries: no charge
• Televisions, radios, video players, DVD players, videos and any general electronic household items including white goods: no charge

Learn more about e-waste

Non-residents

• Small items: $2
• Large items: $3
• Refrigerators: $5

Did you know, Australians send 200,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill each year? This free recycling initiative aims to significantly reduce this amount.

Our resource recovery facilities now offer a free recycling service for old and damaged textiles. Unwanted items in good condition should be donated to an op shop, this service is only for textiles which would have otherwise gone to landfill. 

Accepted items:

Clothing

• All clothing including swimwear, sleepwear, formalwear and underwear

Accessories

• Belts
• Ties, bows
• Purses, briefcases, backpacks
• Hats, caps, bonnets
• Scarves, shawls

Shoes

• All shoes including boots and gumboots

Home textiles

• Tea towels, table cloths
• Bath towels, robes
• Linen, bed sheets
• Curtains

Other

• Soft toys

We don't accept commercial chemical or liquid waste, or deliveries from large commercial vehicles.

Our resource recovery facilities can accept small quantities* of building waste, but the following items are not accepted:

• Asbestos. To find a removalist, see Asbestos in Victoria
• Liquid waste and fuels
• Chemicals
• Paints
• Medical waste
• Vegetable/cooking oil
• Dead animals—contact your local Vet.
• Soil/dirt

* Anything not considered as a commercial load. Ute and trailer loads are accepted whereas truck loads are not. For more information about how to dispose of these items visit Sustainability Victoria

• Light globes (all types including fluorescent and CFLs): no charge
• Scrap metal—white goods, steel, metal cans, lawn mowers, wire, aluminium: no charge
• Engine oil up to 20 litres: no charge
• Engine oil over 20 litres—per litre: $0.70
• Car bodies and parts (remove fuel, oil, LPG tanks and batteries for separate recycling): no charge
• Furniture: see general waste fees listed above
• Gas bottles—small: $8.50
• Gas bottles—large: $14
• Empty (dry) paint tins - free
• X-rays - free
• Plastic bread bag tags* (collected separately in a clear plastic bag) - free
• Plastic bottle caps and lids* (collected separately in a clear plastic bag) - free
• Polystyrene (household quantities of clean, white polystyrene) - free
• Solar panels - free (non-ferrous metal)

*currently a trial.

If you are looking for a specific item and it's not listed here, check our A-Z Waste Index.

Cash and EFTPOS are accepted.

Co-mingled recycling 

Co-mingled recycling (which includes paper, recyclable household metals and rigid plastics) collected at Council’s resource recovery facilities is taken to JJ Richards where it is processed and sent for recycling.

Cardboard recycling

Cardboard is collected separately at resource recovery facilities and is taken to Visy Recycling where it is processed and sent for recycling.

Glass recycling

Glass collected at the resource recovery facilities is taken to Alex Fraser Group, and is reused in road construction materials and for a range of other applications.

E-waste recycling

Electronic waste collected at resource recovery facilities is taken to Scipher, where items are separated and precious resources are recovered.

Textile recycling

The textiles are collected and sorted into different categories for reuse, repair, upcycling and recycling, find out more at Upcycle4Better

Garden waste 

Garden waste is mulched on site at resource recovery facilities and is available for purchase.