One landfill in the whole Barwon region is licensed to receive asbestos waste, and it wants a phone call before you turn up. Here is where it can legally go, how it has to be wrapped and labelled, and how asbestos bins are priced.
Asbestos disposal in Geelong is narrower than most people expect. EPA Victoria keeps a register of landfills licensed to receive asbestos waste, and across Greater Geelong, the Bellarine, the Surf Coast and Golden Plains there is exactly one site on it: Drysdale Landfill, run by the City of Greater Geelong. Every other tip and transfer station in the region is closed to it.
That one fact decides most of what follows. Asbestos waste is pre-classified as reportable priority waste in Victoria, so it has to be wrapped, labelled and taken to an authorised landfill, and it can never go in a general skip or out with a council hard waste collection. If you are not certain the sheeting is asbestos at all, get it tested before you touch it. A lab result costs a lot less than a wasted trip to the tip.
EPA Victoria's register, Landfills licensed for asbestos waste, was updated 22 June 2026 and lists 26 sites statewide. Only one of them is in the Barwon region: Drysdale Landfill, licence OL000072476.
EPA's advice is to contact the landfill before you transport and deliver, because a licensed site can still choose not to accept a load and may want you booked in. Drysdale's number is (03) 5251 2935.
Drysdale takes small domestic quantities, capped at a 6x4 trailer. Bigger loads and trade quantities are a different conversation, and they sit with a licensed removalist who holds the EPA transport permission.
Sheeting goes in polythene about 200 micron (0.2 mm) thick, sealed with adhesive tape. Dust and friable material go into double bags of the same thickness, filled half full, with a loaded weight no more than 30 kg.
Every package carries the asbestos warning mark, roughly 75 mm by 90 mm, reading CAUTION ASBESTOS DO NOT OPEN OR DAMAGE BAG DO NOT INHALE DUST. All containers have to display it before transport starts.
The bin is lined and taped, the waste is bagged before it goes in, and the price is a hire fee plus a separate tipping fee charged by weight. A general waste skip cannot take asbestos at any price.
EPA Victoria publishes a register titled Landfills licensed for asbestos waste. The version updated 22 June 2026 lists 26 sites across the state, and one sits in this region: Drysdale Landfill, operated by the City of Greater Geelong under licence OL000072476. The number is (03) 5251 2935, and Golden Plains Shire tells residents to call prior to attending.
The register is the test here, not local habit. Surf Coast Shire is blunt about it: asbestos roofing sheets and building products are not accepted at any transfer station in the shire, which rules out Anglesea, Winchelsea, Lorne and the Torquay residential drop-off. Golden Plains has one transfer station, at Rokewood, and its fee schedule carries no asbestos line. The Borough of Queenscliffe runs no tip at all.
Colac Otway Shire publishes no asbestos disposal option, so for a Colac household the nearest site on the register is still Drysdale. The one verified fallback outside the region is Ballarat Regional Landfill at Smythesdale, which takes asbestos by appointment only, Thursdays between 10am and 12pm, on (03) 5342 8540.
One practical warning. The EPA register and the two council pages give different street addresses for the Drysdale entrance, and they have not been reconciled, so ring the site and ask which gate to use rather than trusting a map pin. That call is also when you confirm the fee and whether they want you booked in.
Asbestos waste is pre-classified as reportable priority waste under Schedule 5 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2021. From the moment it comes off the wall to the moment it goes over the weighbridge, it cannot be handled as ordinary building rubble.
Asbestos Victoria's packaging guidance is specific about what that looks like:
A householder taking a small domestic load to an authorised landfill does not need an EPA transport permission. The packaging, labelling and call ahead rules still apply. Industrial and commercial loads are a different matter: they need a permission to transport reportable priority waste, types A10a and A10b, with movements recorded through EPA's Waste Tracker.
That is usually why disposal sits inside a removalist's quote rather than on your own trailer. Removal and cartage are carried out by licensed asbestos removalists we work with, and their WorkSafe Victoria licence number appears on every quote.
An asbestos bin is not a normal skip with a different sticker. It is lined with plastic and taped, the material is bagged before it goes in, and the price comes in two parts: a hire fee, then a tipping fee charged by weight. One Melbourne operator publishes bin lining and tape at $75 inc GST, and caps a 3 m3 bin at 1.5 tonnes, a 4 m3 at 2 tonnes and a 6 m3 at 3 tonnes.
No Victorian operator publishes an asbestos bin price. Every Melbourne page checked is quote on request. The only published rate cards found are in New South Wales, where a 2 m3 asbestos bin runs about $315 to $330 plus a tipping fee of around $56 per 100 kg, and a 6 m3 about $540 to $560 plus tipping. Those are NSW numbers. They show the shape of the pricing, not what a Geelong bin will cost.
The negative side of this is firm. Asbestos cannot go in a general waste skip, a kerbside bin, or a council hard waste collection, because none of those streams is authorised to receive it, and the load has to finish at a licensed landfill either way. If an asbestos fence or an asbestos roof is coming down, work out the disposal before the first sheet is unscrewed.
Drysdale does not publish an asbestos gate fee. Surf Coast Shire's page says only that fees apply, and the City of Greater Geelong's own asbestos page sits behind a bot check we could not read, so the honest answer is to confirm the fee on (03) 5251 2935 when you ring.
For a sense of scale, and these are other Victorian councils rather than Geelong: one shire charges $100 per tonne with a $100 minimum, another $228 per tonne with a minimum of $114 for loads up to 500 kg, and a third $376 per tonne with a $10 rate for loads under 20 kg. That is a 3.8 times spread across three councils, which is why a single Victorian disposal figure would be wrong for most of the state. Prices are indicative and GST treatment varies between providers, so ask each removalist whether their quote includes GST. There is more on the wider job on our asbestos removal cost page.
If the material has not been tested yet, that is the cheaper place to start. Lab analysis runs about $88 to $160 per sample, and most houses need three to eight samples, because every different material has to be tested separately. A fence, an eaves lining and a bathroom wall sheet are three samples, not one.
Call now on 0480 XXX XXX and we will put you in touch with licensed asbestos removalists working in Geelong and across the Barwon region. You deal with the removalist directly, and their licence number is on the quote.
Drysdale Landfill, operated by the City of Greater Geelong, is the only site in the Barwon region on EPA Victoria's register of landfills licensed for asbestos waste, updated 22 June 2026. It takes small domestic quantities only, capped at a 6x4 trailer. Ring (03) 5251 2935 before you go, because a licensed landfill can still refuse a load and may want you booked in. Fees apply and the amount is not published, so ask on that call.
No. Asbestos waste is pre-classified as reportable priority waste under Schedule 5 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2021, and EPA's rule is that it must go to a landfill authorised to receive it. A general waste skip, a kerbside bin and a council hard waste collection are none of those things. An asbestos bin is lined and taped, and the material has to be bagged before it goes in.
Drysdale publishes no asbestos gate fee, so nobody can give you a Geelong number honestly. Other Victorian councils that do publish charge between $100 and $376 per tonne, including one shire at $228 per tonne with a minimum charge of $114 for loads up to 500 kg. That is a 3.8 times spread, so treat those as context rather than a Geelong price. GST treatment varies between providers, so ask whether a quote includes it.
Sheeting goes in polythene approximately 200 micron (0.2 mm) thick, sealed with adhesive tape. Friable material and dust go in double bags of the same thickness, filled half full, with a loaded weight that should not exceed 30 kg. Every package carries the asbestos warning mark, about 75 mm by 90 mm, and all containers must display it before transport. In the vehicle, lay two layers of polythene sheeting in the cargo area and keep packages small enough to handle easily.
No. Surf Coast Shire states that asbestos roofing sheets and building products are not accepted at any transfer station in the shire, which covers Anglesea, Winchelsea, Lorne and the Torquay drop-off. The shire's own pages send residents to Drysdale Landfill instead, on (03) 5251 2935. Colac Otway Shire publishes no asbestos option either. The one verified fallback outside the region is Ballarat Regional Landfill at Smythesdale, by appointment only, Thursdays between 10am and 12pm, on (03) 5342 8540.
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