A Sydney business with one 1,100-litre general waste bin collected weekly should expect to pay roughly $125 to $230 a month plus GST once the rate is negotiated, a 240-litre bin about $45 to $75, and a 3 m³ front-lift bin $260 to $420. Advertised list rates run wider: Waster's published national range for a 1,100-litre lift is $33.53 to $105.81 per collection. The NSW waste levy alone puts about $69 a month into a weekly 1,100-litre bin. The City of Sydney does not collect commercial waste, so every business arranges and pays for its own service.
What Sydney businesses pay in 2026
Two kinds of number exist for Sydney commercial waste: the advertised list rate a provider publishes online, and the negotiated rate a business actually signs. The table shows both. The list range is Waster's published per-collection pricing, which it states is valid until 30 June 2027 and spans every region and collection frequency it serves. The negotiated range is Bundle Waste's indicative band for Sydney: our Melbourne market ranges adjusted for the small difference between the two states' metropolitan levies, which in 2026-27 is only $3.01 a tonne.
| Bin (weekly service) | Advertised list range, per collection ex GST (Waster) | Indicative negotiated range, per month ex GST |
|---|---|---|
| 240 L wheelie | $12.40 to $45.97 | $45 to $75 |
| 660 L wheelie | not published as a single range | $85 to $165 |
| 1,100 L wheelie | $33.53 to $105.81 | $125 to $230 |
| 3 m³ front-lift | $77.81 to $341.50 | $260 to $420 |
Monthly figures assume 4.33 collections a month. Sydney CBD, the inner east and any site with access problems sit at the top of each band or above it, the same way Melbourne CBD rates run 10 to 15 per cent above the suburbs. Western Sydney industrial precincts with dense truck routes sit at the bottom.
The levy line inside every Sydney lift
New South Wales charges a waste levy on every tonne sent to landfill. From 1 July 2026 the metropolitan levy area rate is $180.20 a tonne, up $6.00 from $174.20, and the regional levy area rate is $103.80, up $3.50. The NSW Government capped the 2026-27 increase at CPI while it reviews the levy. Sydney, the Illawarra and the Hunter all sit in the metropolitan levy area, so the higher rate applies to every Sydney business bin.
Providers recover the levy through the tonnage they haul, so the question is how much a bin weighs. Waster's published weight allowances give a defensible answer: 60 kg per cubic metre for offices, transport and non-food retail, 80 kg for health, education and non-food manufacturing, 100 kg for hospitality and food retail, and 120 kg for food manufacturing and construction. At 80 kg per cubic metre a 1,100-litre bin holds about 88 kg, and a weekly service moves about 0.38 tonnes a month.
| Bin, weekly service | Approx. weight per lift (80 kg/m³) | NSW levy per month at $180.20/t |
|---|---|---|
| 240 L | 19 kg | about $15 |
| 660 L | 53 kg | about $41 |
| 1,100 L | 88 kg | about $69 |
| 3 m³ front-lift | 240 kg | about $187 |
A café or restaurant at 100 kg per cubic metre pays about a quarter more levy than the table shows. This is why the same 1,100-litre bin costs a hospitality site more than an office, and why Waster charges excess weight at $0.49 per kg in NSW against $0.42 in every other state.
What disposal costs behind your bill
Gate fees are the price a truck pays to tip. Bingo publishes its NSW building and demolition price list: from 1 July 2026 mixed waste is $510 a tonne ex GST at Alexandria and Artarmon, $480 at Auburn, Greenacre, Mortdale and Revesby, and $440 at Eastern Creek, with a $100 minimum charge. Those are dry-waste facilities rather than putrescible landfills, but they show the scale of the disposal cost sitting under a Sydney commercial rate: every tonne carries the $180.20 levy plus the facility's own margin.
Council collection in Sydney
The City of Sydney is explicit: businesses arrange their own commercial waste collections, business council rates do not cover waste and recycling, every bin must show the business name, address and the contractor's name, and bins must be stored inside the premises and brought back in straight after collection. A council officer can ask to see your collection contract. Some other Sydney councils, such as the City of Canada Bay, run an optional commercial service with 120-litre to 1,100-litre bins on a weekly cycle and let businesses choose a private company instead. Council services are convenient for a single small bin; they rarely beat a negotiated private rate once you need recycling streams or more than one bin.
Trade waste is not commercial waste
Searches for commercial waste in Sydney are often answered with Sydney Water trade waste pages. Trade waste is liquid discharged to the sewer, which needs a Sydney Water trade waste agreement and applies to grease traps, car washes and manufacturers. Commercial waste is the solid material collected in bins. A café pays for both: a bin contract with a waste provider and a grease-trap service that keeps its trade waste agreement compliant. Do not let a quote for one be mistaken for the other.
What moves a Sydney rate
- Bin size and frequency. A 660-litre bin emptied weekly is often cheaper than a 240-litre bin emptied three times a week, because you pay per lift.
- Weight. Excess-weight charges start once you pass the allowance, so a compacted or wet bin costs more than its volume suggests.
- Recycling split. Commingled and cardboard collections attract little or no levy, so every kilogram moved out of general waste is levy you stop paying.
- Add-on lines. Bin rental, environmental fees, fuel surcharges and admin fees are where Sydney invoices grow. Waster, for example, advertises no rental or environmental fees; many contracts still carry them.
- Contract term and rise clauses. Annual increases and rollover clauses matter more than the headline rate over three years.
How Sydney businesses pay less
Bundle Waste is a Melbourne-based waste cost broker that works with businesses Australia-wide. For Sydney we do the same thing we do at home: read the invoice line by line, size the bins to what you actually throw out, price the same service across providers that run trucks past your door, and negotiate. We are paid only from the savings we find, so if a bill is already at the bottom of the band we say so. Start with a free waste audit, and use the bill benchmark to see where your current rate sits before you talk to anyone.
For the numbers behind this page see the Australian commercial waste cost index, the state-by-state levy guide and, for a like-for-like comparison, the Melbourne cost guide this page is modelled on. Not sure which bin you need? The 240 L vs 660 L vs 1,100 L comparison covers dimensions and typical weekly costs, and the levy calculator shows what the NSW levy adds to any bin.
Sources
- Caras — NSW Waste Levy Increase from 1 July 2026 (MLA $180.20/t, RLA $103.80/t) (accessed 2026-09-03)
- NSW Government — Waste levy rates for 2026-27 (CPI cap) (accessed 2026-09-03)
- City of Sydney — Businesses and waste services (accessed 2026-09-03)
- Waster — 1100 litre general waste bin service (published price range and weight allowances) (accessed 2026-09-03)
- Waster — 240 litre general waste bin service (published price range) (accessed 2026-09-03)
- Waster — 3.0 m³ general waste bin service (published price range) (accessed 2026-09-03)
- BINGO Waste Services — B&D Tipping NSW price list, gate rates from 1 July 2026 (PDF) (accessed 2026-09-03)
- City of Canada Bay — Commercial waste (accessed 2026-09-03)
- Bin Hire Australia — Commercial Bin Hire Sydney guide (incumbent, no prices) (accessed 2026-09-03)
Frequently asked questions
How much is a commercial waste bin in Sydney?
Is there a commercial waste collection price list for Sydney?
Does the City of Sydney collect commercial waste?
How much of my Sydney waste bill is the NSW levy?
What is the difference between trade waste and commercial waste in Sydney?
What is the cheapest commercial waste collection in Sydney?
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