What Can You Put Out for Hard Rubbish Collection in Hobart?

If you’ve got an old lounge, a dead washing machine or a bed frame too big for the bin, hard rubbish collection sounds like the perfect answer — leave it on the nature strip, the council takes it away, done. But turn up with the wrong items and your pile gets left behind, or worse, you cop a fine for illegal dumping. So before you drag everything to the kerb, it pays to know exactly what your council will and won’t take.

This guide breaks down what you can put out for hard rubbish (bulky waste) collection across Hobart, what’s banned, how to present it properly, and what to do when an item doesn’t make the list. For the council-by-council detail on how collections are booked and run, see our companion guide on how Hobart hard rubbish collection works.

First, a quick reality check

“Hard rubbish” goes by a few names — bulky waste, kerbside collection, hard waste — and the arrangements are not the same across Hobart’s councils. Some run a booking-based bulky waste collection a couple of times a year; others lean on their transfer stations instead of regular kerbside pickups. The greater Hobart councils and their tips are:

• City of Hobart — McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre, South Hobart
• Glenorchy City Council — Jackson Street transfer station
• Clarence City Council and Sorell Council — Mornington Park Waste Transfer Station
• Kingborough Council — Barretta
• Brighton Council — Cove Hill

Because the rules, quantity limits and timing differ, the golden rule is: check your own council’s current bulky waste page or booking line before you put anything out. The lists below describe what these collections typically accept and refuse — they’re a strong general guide, not a guarantee for every street.

What you CAN usually put out

Hard rubbish is designed for the bulky household items that don’t fit in your kerbside bins. Across Hobart, collections generally accept:

Furniture

Lounges and couches, armchairs, dining tables and chairs, coffee tables, desks, bookshelves, wardrobes, drawers, bed frames and bed bases. This is the bread and butter of hard rubbish — if two people can lift it and it came out of a home, it usually qualifies.

Mattresses

Most collections take mattresses, but often with a limit on how many (frequently one or two per collection) because they’re awkward to recycle. Keep them dry — a sodden mattress may be refused. If you’ve got several, or yours is the only thing you need gone, our guide on how to dispose of a mattress in Hobart covers every option.

Whitegoods and large appliances

Fridges, freezers, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and ovens are commonly accepted — but read the conditions carefully. Many councils ask that fridge and freezer doors are removed (a child-safety requirement), and some require the refrigerant gas to be degassed by a qualified person first. A few councils collect whitegoods separately from the rest of the pile. For the detail, see getting rid of an old fridge or whitegoods.

Metal items and white goods

Hot water cylinders, BBQs (with the gas bottle removed), bike frames, metal shelving, garden tools and other scrap-metal items are typically fine, and the metal is usually recycled.

Other bulky household goods

Bikes, prams, kids’ play equipment, rolled and tied carpet or underlay (often with a length limit, e.g. cut into manageable rolls), large toys and similar oversized household items.

The common thread: it’s bulky, it’s from a household, and it can be lifted by two people. If an item ticks those boxes, it’s usually welcome.

What you CAN’T put out

This is where most piles come unstuck. Hard rubbish collections almost universally refuse the following — and putting them out can mean the whole pile is left behind:

General household rubbish

Bagged kitchen or household waste, food scraps, soft plastics and anything that belongs in your kerbside general waste or recycling bin. Not sure what goes where? See what can go in your council bin in Hobart.

Garden and green waste

Branches, prunings, grass clippings, soil and turf are not hard rubbish — they go in your FOGO/green bin, to a transfer station, or get collected separately. We can also clear it under our green waste removal service.

Building, renovation and demolition waste

Bricks, concrete, rubble, tiles, plasterboard, timber off-cuts, fencing, dirt and renovation debris are excluded from hard rubbish almost everywhere — they’re heavy, and they’re a separate (often weight-based) waste stream.

Hazardous materials

Paint, oils, solvents, chemicals, pesticides, gas bottles, car batteries, fluorescent tubes and asbestos are banned outright. These need proper handling — most councils run dedicated drop-off points or chemical-collection days. Asbestos in particular must be handled by a licensed specialist; never put it out at the kerb.

E-waste — TVs, computers and electronics

This one catches people out. Old televisions, computers, monitors and electronics are usually NOT accepted in hard rubbish, because e-waste contains hazardous materials and is banned from landfill. It has to go through an accredited e-waste recycler instead — see how to dispose of e-waste and old TVs in Hobart.

Tyres, liquids and car parts

Tyres, engine parts, large amounts of liquid and similar automotive items are refused by standard hard rubbish collections.

When an item is on this list, the question becomes “where does it go instead?” — and the honest answer is usually a transfer station, a specialist recycler, or a removal service. Our guide on where Hobart’s rubbish actually goes explains the streams.

How to present it properly

Even with the right items, presentation matters — get it wrong and your pile may be skipped:

• Place it at the kerb or nature strip, clear of the footpath, road, driveways, power poles and overhanging trees so the truck and pedestrians have access.
• Don’t put it out too early. Most councils specify a window (often only a day or two before your scheduled date). Rubbish dumped on the verge for a fortnight is both an eyesore and, technically, illegal dumping.
• Keep within the size and weight limit. As a rule, every item should be liftable by two people. Oversized or extremely heavy items may be left.
• Sort where required. Some councils want metals and whitegoods stacked separately from general bulky waste, and mattresses kept apart. Check your council’s instructions.
• Flag the special items. If fridge doors need removing or a gas bottle taken off the BBQ, do it before collection day — these are the most common reasons items get rejected.
• Keep it dry and contained. Loose items can blow across the street; bundle and tie what you can.

How much can you put out?

Quantity is the other big variable. Councils usually cap a hard rubbish collection — commonly by a maximum pile size (often expressed in cubic metres) or by limiting certain items (such as one or two mattresses). Exceed the limit and the surplus is left behind. If you’re clearing a whole house, a deceased estate or a major declutter, you’ll often blow past the cap in one go — which is where booking a removal makes more sense than staging it over several council collections.

What happens if you get it wrong?

Two things, neither good. If your pile contains banned items or breaches the limits, the crew can leave the whole lot — and now you’re back to square one with rubbish on the verge. And if items sit on the nature strip outside the allowed window, or are dumped where there’s no collection at all, that can be treated as illegal dumping, which carries real fines in Tasmania. Hard rubbish is a great service when you play by the rules; it’s an expensive headache when you don’t.

Can’t wait, over the limit, or no collection in your area?

Hard rubbish collections are handy but limited — they run infrequently, they cap the volume, and they refuse a long list of items. If any of these apply to you:

• you need it gone now rather than waiting weeks for the next council date,
• you’ve got more than the limit, or a mix of accepted and “banned” items,
• your council doesn’t run a regular kerbside collection,
• or you simply don’t want to drag heavy furniture to the kerb yourself,

then a booked removal is the simpler option. With our hard rubbish removal in Hobart, we do all the lifting, take the items hard rubbish won’t (within reason), and dispose of everything responsibly — often same-day if you call before noon. We service Glenorchy, Kingston, Howrah and every other Hobart suburb.

The short version

Put out bulky household furniture, mattresses (within the limit), whitegoods (doors off), metal goods and rolled carpet. Keep out general rubbish, garden and building waste, anything hazardous, and e-waste like TVs and computers. Present it at the kerb within your council’s window, under the size and quantity limits — and check your own council’s current rules first, because they genuinely differ across Hobart.

Not sure it’ll all fit the rules, or just want it handled? Get a fast quote or call 0468 097 187 and we’ll clear it for you.