Brooklyn Tip: Cleanaway Brooklyn Resource Recovery Centre

The Cleanaway Brooklyn Resource Recovery Centre at 174 Old Geelong Road, Brooklyn is open Monday to Friday 7:30am–4:00pm and weekends 8:00am–12:00pm. Paper, cardboard and metal are dropped off free. General waste, timber, green waste, concrete, mattresses, e-waste and tyres are rated and charged on entry, with treated timber, MDF and construction and demolition waste all charged at the general-waste rate. Cleanaway does not publish a fixed price list online for this site; charges depend on waste type, volume and contamination, so call (03) 8391 1480 for a quote on anything larger than a boot load.

At a glance

What to expect at the gate

Because Brooklyn is a Cleanaway transfer station rather than a council facility, there is no resident discount and no voucher scheme, but there is also no residency check and no 4.5-tonne vehicle limit of the kind council sites impose. Loads are assessed on arrival. Bringing sorted loads matters here: mixed loads containing treated timber or MDF are charged at the general rate, and every tonne of general waste carries the $177.19 state levy before Cleanaway's handling fee and GST.

For context, other Melbourne gates that publish rates are charging $300–452 per tonne for general waste in 2026-27 (Bingo West Melbourne $300 ex GST, Knox $406.50, Whitehorse $407, Future Recycling $452). Treat that band as the reference point when you ask for a quote.

How a Melbourne tip fee is built

Every general-waste gate fee in metropolitan Melbourne has three layers. The Victorian landfill levy is $177.19 per tonne from 1 July 2026 (EPA Victoria), up from $169.79 the year before. GST is added on top of the whole fee. The rest is the operator's cost of handling, transport to landfill and margin. Recyclable streams (cardboard, scrap metal, e-waste, batteries) carry no levy, which is why they are free or cheap at almost every gate.

When a business should stop tipping and get a bin

Tip runs make sense for one-off clean-outs. They stop making sense once someone is driving to the gate every week. In Melbourne's west a 1100L general-waste bin collected weekly costs $110–200 a month on Bundle Waste's 2026 benchmarks: about 4.4 m³ of waste a month, collected from your door, with the levy already inside the price. Against gate fees plus fuel and an hour of someone's time each trip, the bin wins well before the first month is out. A free waste audit prices the exact bin size and frequency for your volumes.

Ways to pay less at the gate

• Sort before you go. Cardboard, scrap metal, e-waste and batteries are free at most metro facilities. Hidden recyclables inside a mixed load are charged at the general rate.
• Know the minimum charge. Small loads are billed at the minimum regardless of weight; combining two half-loads into one trip usually saves the second minimum.
• Weight beats volume for dense waste. Where a weighbridge is offered, soil, concrete and timber are usually cheaper by the tonne than by trailer size.
• Green waste separately. Green waste is typically 40–60% cheaper than general waste at the same gate.

Sources

• Cleanaway, Brooklyn Resource Recovery Centre
• EPA Victoria, Waste levy rates 2026-27

Frequently asked questions

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