Dispose of toxic household items (Detox Your Home)
Throwing chemicals in your rubbish bin is dangerous. They can 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 will 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 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.
Detox Your Home - Camberwell
648 Riversdale Road, Camberwell, VIC 3124
Detox Your Home - Reservoir
Carawa Drive, Reservoir, VIC 3073
Detox Your Home - Bairnsdale
Saleyard Road, Bairnsdale, VIC 3875
We will add more events as they are confirmed. Sign up to our quarterly e-newsletter for updates.
If you can’t make it to an event, make sure you store chemicals safely. If you need to travel a distance to a Detox your Home event, follow these safe transport tips.
Items accepted and not accepted
Detox Your Home collects toxic household products that can’t be disposed of through other services. Items that we do not accept include fire extinguishers, cosmetics, cooking oil, motor oil and empty aerosols.
Check the full list of items that are accepted and not accepted.
Detox Your Home events are for households. Businesses should use a commercial waste disposal company.
Prepare for the event
-
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.
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.
