Dispose of toxic household items (Detox Your Home)
Throwing chemicals in your rubbish bin is dangerous. They may explode, catch fire, leak or mix with other chemicals, either in your bin or in the collection truck or sorting facility.
Pouring them down the drain may pollute the environment, harm animals and vegetation, contaminate our water supply and make rivers and beaches unsafe for swimming.
Instead, you can drop off unwanted dangerous household chemicals at our free Detox Your Home events, which are licensed to accept toxic chemicals and staffed by trained specialist chemists.
Register for an event
We are running a reduced number of Detox your Home events this year, focusing on collecting highly toxic household chemicals.
You are welcome to attend any of the events listed below – they are not restricted to those who live in the municipality.
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Since 1994, Sustainability Victoria has been helping Victorians detox their homes and keep everyday household chemicals out of our environment.
Free to attend and held across the state, Detox Your Home events have safely disposed of more than 17,000 tons of toxic chemicals, keeping Victorian families safe and toxic chemicals out of our environment and waterways. There's an event held nearly every weekend somewhere in Victoria, with the experienced team traveling to different communities throughout the year.
Taking part is easy. Start by cleaning out your shed, your garage, or that cupboard in the laundry that hasn't been touched for months and gather the chemicals you'd like to dispose of. We accept many kinds of everyday household chemicals, like cleaning products, garden chemicals, pool chemicals, photography chemicals, coolant, glues, solvents, fire extinguishers, old cosmetics and even used cooking oil. For the full list of accepted items make sure you visit our website. Check the website for upcoming event dates and locations, register for your preferred event online, then on the day just load your car and drive on down. A team of qualified chemists will unload and sort your materials for you. Most of it won't actually be disposed of. Often we're able to recover and reuse the product in some way. For example, in the past two years 68 tons of flammable liquids have been collected and repurposed for use in the production of cement.
So those old bottles of methylated spirits could help pave that new footpath in town.
Visit sustainability.vic.gov.au to find upcoming Detox Your Home events in your area.
Detox Your Home - Coburg
90 Bell Street, Coburg, VIC 3058
Detox Your Home - Corio
299 Anakie Road, Lovely Banks, VIC 3215
Detox Your Home - Wangaratta
51-69 Newman Street, Wangaratta, VIC 3677
Detox Your Home - Clifton Hill
168 Roseneath Street, Clifton Hill, VIC 3068
Detox Your Home - Frankston
20 Harold Road, Skye, VIC 3977
Detox Your Home - Warrnambool
81-91 Caramut Road, Warrnambool, VIC 3280
Detox Your Home - Doncaster
620-628 Blackburn Road, Doncaster East, VIC 3109
Detox Your Home - Lilydale
103-105 Nelson Road, Lilydale, VIC 3140
Detox Your Home - Notting Hill
380 Ferntree Gully Road, Notting Hill, VIC 3168
Detox Your Home - Mornington
134 Watt Road, Mornington, VIC 3931
Detox Your Home - Shepparton
Wanganui Road, Shepparton, VIC 3630
Detox Your Home - Knox
14 Henderson Road, Knoxfield, VIC 3180
Detox Your Home - Aberfeldie
188 Holmes Road, Aberfeldie, VIC 3040
Detox Your Home - Wonthaggi
180 Cameron Street, Wonthaggi, VIC 3995
Before the event
Pack only items accepted at Detox Your Home events.
The maximum acceptable weight or size of a single container is 20 kilograms or 20 litres.
You must clearly and accurately label your items:
- Use the original packaging if possible, if not, write the contents clearly using a permanent marker.
- Decanting is not permitted on site, so bring chemicals in disposable containers that you can leave behind.
- If you’re unsure of the contents, label them ‘unknown’.
Put your items in your empty car boot or vehicle tray.
Read our tips to safely handle toxic chemicals.
At the event
There will be signs and directions for you to follow as you drive in.
Stay in your car. You won’t need to unload anything yourself. Our trained staff and qualified chemists will unload everything for you.
Generally the wait time is less than 10 minutes.
