Skip Bin Waste Types in Brisbane
This page covers the rules that apply to every bin we drop off. Each stream has its own page with its own accepted list, its own banned list and the sizes that suit it.
Why the streams cost different amounts
Queensland charges a waste levy on rubbish that goes to landfill. It came back in on 1 July 2019 and it applies across the south east, which is all of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Redland and the Gold Coast. It is charged by the tonne, currently $135, and the source for that figure is the Queensland Government levy rates page, metropolitan zone, 2026-27 rate, checked 1 September 2026.
Two things follow from that, and they explain most of the price list.
Rubbish that gets recovered does not pay the levy. Clean green waste is mulched. Clean concrete is crushed into road base. Clean soil is reused as fill. Neither one goes to landfill, so neither one attracts the levy, and both are cheaper per bin as a result.
A mixed load pays the levy on the whole weight. Once soil, plaster and broken tile are through a load there is no cheap way to pull them apart, so it goes to landfill and it gets weighed on the way in. That is the honest reason a heavy builders bin costs roughly double a general waste bin of the same size.
It is also the reason we ask what is going in the bin before quoting. No. The levy is already in the price we quote you.
The six streams
If you are unsure which one your load is, the short version is this. If there is dirt, brick, tile or concrete in it, it is heavy. If there is not, it is light. That single question separates light builders from mixed heavy and it is worth getting right, because it is the biggest price gap on the list.
| Stream | What it is | Where it ends up |
|---|---|---|
| General waste | The mixed household load. Furniture, boxes, whitegoods, the shed. | A licensed Brisbane transfer station, where the load is sorted and the recoverable part is pulled out before landfill |
| Green waste only | Branches, prunings, lawn, leaves. Nothing else at all. | A green waste composting facility, where it is mulched rather than landfilled, which is why it is cheaper than a general bin |
| Light builders skips | Reno waste with no soil, brick or concrete in it. | A construction and demolition recycling facility, where timber, plasterboard and metal are separated |
| Builders and mixed heavy | The same reno waste with the rubble, tiles and dirt included. | A construction and demolition facility with a crusher, where the masonry is recovered as road base |
| Soil and dirt | Clean soil, sand and clay from a dig out. Nothing else through it. | A clean fill or soil recycling site, where it is screened and reused as fill rather than buried |
| Concrete only | Clean slab, path, brick and block. Nothing mixed through it. | A concrete recycler, where it is crushed and reused as road base, which is why a clean load is cheaper than a mixed one |
What cannot go in any bin
asbestos, liquids of any kind, paint, oil, batteries, gas bottles, tyres, chemicals, medical waste, food waste and anything still under pressure
Asbestos is the one to read twice. We do not take asbestos in any bin, in any form, at any price, and there is no exception to this. Removing and disposing of asbestos is licensed work in Queensland, it has to go to a facility that will accept it, and it cannot travel in a skip bin. If you think there is bonded sheeting, old fibro or vinyl backing in your load, stop and get it assessed before you book anything.
What happens if a load turns up mixed
A load gets classified when it is tipped, not when it is collected. If a green waste bin has a bag of household rubbish in it, the whole bin is reclassified and charged at the higher rate, because the recovery facility will not take it and it has to go to landfill instead.
It is not a penalty we invented. It is what the facility charges us. The way to avoid it is to book the stream that matches the load, and if the load is genuinely mixed, book general waste and pay for what it is.
Which size suits which stream
Weight, not volume, is what decides this. A bin of clean concrete reaches its tonnage with the bin barely half full, so the small sizes suit it. A bin of branches and lawn clippings will never get heavy, so the big sizes suit it.
The skip bin sizes page explains the volume against weight problem in full, and each stream page names the sizes that actually work for it.
Not sure what you have got? Describe the load and we will tell you which bin it is. Send us the details, and book online once you know which bin it is.
Book a skip bin in Brisbane
Tell us the suburb, the size and what is going in the bin.