Chemical Disposal

Unwanted chemicals may harm the environment if you pour them down the sink or put them in the rubbish bin. Council allows you to dispose of these chemicals safely.

Home chemicals (Detox Your Home program)

Do you have chemical products you no longer use? Some of these products could harm you, your children and your pets.

It’s also dangerous to throw chemical products out with your regular rubbish collection. The products could explode, ignite, leak or mix with other chemicals.

And pouring them down the drain would pollute our waterways, harming animals and vegetation, contaminating our drinking water supply and making rivers and beaches unsafe for swimming.

The good news is you can reduce the risk of poisoning, environmental pollution and bushfire hazards, as well as improve recycling rates, by dropping off unwanted chemicals at Shepparton’s Detox Your Home mobile collection which takes place once a year.

The collected items are recycled for recovery and diverted from landfill.

There are 31 Detox your Home mobile collections held across Victoria each year to ensure reasonable access for all Victorian householders. The program is administered by Sustainability Victoria in partnership with local councils and is funded by the Victorian landfill levy.

Visit the Detox Your Home website for a complete list of upcoming mobile collections and accepted products.

Detox Your Home. Do the right thing for your loved ones and your environment. It’s easy and it’s free.

Chemicals accepted at the yearly mobile collection include:

  • Acids and alkalis
  • Aerosol cans (note - cans that are empty can go in your household recycling bin)
  • Anti-freeze 
  • Brake fluid
  • Car body filler
  • Car wax
  • Cleaners - ammonia based
  • Cooking oil
  • Coolant
  • Detergents, disinfectants and drain cleaners
  • Fertiliser 
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Floor-care products and waxes
  • Fuels - petrol, diesel, kerosene, other
  • Glues - water-based and solvents
  • Herbicides and weed killers
  • Insect spray/pesticides 
  • Nail polish and remover 
  • Oven cleaner
  • Paint stripper, thinners and turpentine 
  • Pool chemicals 
  • Rat poison 
  • Solvents 
  • Transmission fluid
  • Wood preservatives and finishes (oils and varnish)
  • And other items found at home with these symbols:

You can bring as many of the above items as you like, so long as each container is less than 20 litres or 20 kilograms. Decanting not permitted.

Permanent Victorian drop-off sites for paint and other products

Paint, household batteries, fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lamps – which are less toxic than household chemicals ­(but also a more common waste item) – can be disposed of throughout the year at the permanent Victorian drop-off site, at the Shepparton Resource Recovery Centre.

Detox your Home, on the other hand, is a free service designed specifically to collect unwanted household chemicals.

For more information and a full list of permanent Victorian drop-off sites visit Sustainability Victoria's website or contact Council on (03) 5832 9700.

Farm chemicals

ChemClear schedules regular collections throughout Victoria. Please contact ChemClear on 1800 008 182 to organise a collection of your unwanted agricultural chemicals.

Chemical containers

The drumMUSTER program provides Australian agricultural and veterinary chemical users with a recycling pathway for eligible empty agvet chemical containers.

Greater Shepparton City Council participates in the drumMUSTER program that allows residents to collect and return empty and cleaned farm chemical containers to our resource recovery centres for recycling.

drumMUSTER is the national program that has been set up for the collection and recycling of cleaned eligible non-returnable crop production and on-farm animal health chemical containers.

As a chemical user, drumMUSTER provides you with a defined route to safely dispose of your used chemical containers. All you are required to do is clean your containers so they are free of any chemical residue then deliver them to one of our Resource Recovery Centres located in Shepparton, Ardmona or Murchison. This is a free service; however, you are required to book your visit on one of the specific days available for collection. Check the Resource Recovery Centre pages for days, times and limits. Bookings can be made by calling Council on 5832 9700 to register your name, address and number of drums.

Only drumMUSTER registered drums are collected (look for the drumMUSTER symbol, above right). Drums must be triple rinsed and free of residue. Lids are to be removed but can also be recycled at the time of delivery. drumMUSTER rinsing standards can be viewed here.

To find out more about the drumMUSTER program please visit the drumMUSTER website.

Large amounts of petroleum-based oil

The Shepparton Resource Recovery Centre on Wanganui Road can accept drums of petroleum-based oil up to 20 litres in size. This service is free of charge.