Find a trusted rubbish removalist in Brisbane

Try the council’s free options first

Before you pay anyone, check what Brisbane City Council already offers. Its kerbside large item collection is free and comes around once a year, with each suburb given a set week in the financial year. Furniture, whitegoods, e-waste, bikes, carpet and wood products under 1.5 cubic metres all qualify, and items need to be on the kerb by 6am on the first day.

Each household also gets 10 free waste vouchers every financial year, each covering up to 100 kg of general or uncontaminated green waste at the council’s resource recovery centres in Nudgee, Willawong, Chandler and Ferny Grove. Many recyclables, including scrap metal and e-waste, go free without a voucher. Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and Redland councils run their own services, so check yours if you live outside Brisbane City.

A removalist earns their money when the pile won’t fit in a car or trailer, when it’s heavy or under the house, when the kerbside week is months off, or when you’d like the sorting done for you.

Green waste, renos and what’s in the pile

Subtropical gardens grow fast, and a lot of Brisbane loads are green waste: palm fronds, cut-back hedges, vines and branches brought down by summer storms. Green waste usually costs less to tip than mixed junk, so keep it separate where you can. Clean timber, metal and cardboard are worth stacking apart too, because a removalist who can recycle them may charge less for the load.

Renovations make up much of the rest. Gutting a bathroom, pulling up old carpet or clearing the space under a Queenslander for a build-in produces timber, plasterboard, tiles and rubble. Tiles, soil and concrete are priced by weight, so they cost more per load than bulky household junk. If the reno involves fibro sheeting from a home built before about 1990, assume it may contain asbestos. Most removalists won’t take it, so use a licensed asbestos removalist.

No licence, so check the business instead

Queensland doesn’t license household rubbish removal, so what you’re really checking is that the operator is a genuine business, carries insurance and tips legally. Look up the ABN on ABN Lookup, ask about public liability cover, and ask for a tip receipt or another record showing where the load went. Dumping 200 litres or more of waste is an offence in Queensland. For the Brisbane trades that are licensed, our Queensland licence checks page has the right register for each.

Brisbane rubbish removal prices

Brisbane sits mid-range. Prices step up with volume: roughly $80 to $180 for a lone couch or fridge, $180 to $350 when the load fills about a quarter of the truck, $300 to $550 for half, and $500 to $900 when it’s full. A 6 m³ skip bin typically runs $350 to $600. Operators pay commercial rates at the tip, which are higher than what residents pay, and that’s part of the price. Skip sizes, clean-outs and the rest are in our rubbish removal price guide, and they’re all indicative.

One removalist and a clear price

Tell us what’s going and where in Brisbane you are, and we’ll send the job to one local removalist we’ve already checked, so there’s a single quote to weigh up for the whole load. We’re not a directory, and your details aren’t sold to a string of operators. See how rubbish removal matching works, browse other trades in Brisbane, or get a free quote.