How to Set Up Cardboard Collection for Your Melbourne Business

Short answer: To set up cardboard collection for a Melbourne business, estimate how much cardboard you produce in a typical week, choose a bin that fits your space (an 1100L wheelie bin or a 3m³ front-lift bin), and pick a pickup frequency. Place the bin close to where stock is unpacked, with clear access for the truck, and show your team what goes in and what stays out. With Recyco, quotes usually come back within 4 hours and most sites are set up within a week.

None of this is complicated, but a few decisions at the start make the difference between a bin that quietly does its job and one that overflows, gets contaminated or sits half empty. Here’s the process, step by step.

How much cardboard does your business produce?

Start with a one-week count. Rather than guessing, ask whoever unpacks deliveries to flatten every box for a normal trading week and stack it in one place. At the end of the week you’ll have a physical pile you can compare against a bin. A standard 1100L bin is roughly 1.4m wide × 1.1m deep × 1.3m high, so it’s easy to see whether your pile would fit inside one, or whether it would take two or three.

While you’re counting, note:

• Delivery days. Most cardboard arrives with stock, so pickups work best a day or two after your biggest deliveries.
• Seasonal peaks. End-of-financial-year stock, Christmas trading or a new product range can briefly multiply your volume.
• Other paper. If you also produce office paper, it can be collected alongside your cardboard.

Which bin size should you start with?

There are four sizes. A 240L or 660L wheelie bin suits small offices, clinics and cafés that only make a few boxes a week. An 1100L wheelie bin suits busier shops, venues and small workshops with limited space. A 3m³ high-capacity bin holds roughly 2.7 times as much (3,000 litres versus 1,100) and suits warehouses, manufacturers and distributors that break down pallets of stock most days. Both are covered on our cardboard recycling bins page, and we’ve written a detailed comparison in 1100L vs 3m³: which size does your business need?

If your one-week pile would fit in a household recycling bin, a 240L is enough. If it would fit in a single 1100L bin, start there. If it’s close to two or three bins’ worth and you have truck access, a 3m³ bin is usually the simpler setup.

How often should cardboard be collected?

Collection should happen just before the bin fills. We offer four schedules:

• Weekly — most warehouses, retailers and hospitality venues.
• Fortnightly — offices, clinics and smaller shops with steady, lighter volumes.
• Monthly — low-volume sites where cardboard builds up slowly.
• On demand — irregular or seasonal volumes, collected when you call. See on-demand cardboard removal.

Frequency and bin size work together. A bigger bin can be collected less often; a smaller one may need more pickups. If space is tight, choose the smaller bin and the more frequent schedule.

Where should the cardboard bin go?

Put the bin as close as practical to where stock is broken down. If staff have to carry armfuls of boxes across a car park, cardboard will end up stacked by the back door or in the general waste bin instead. In a warehouse that usually means near the dock; in a shop or café, near the back entrance or the storeroom.

Good locations also:

• Keep cardboard dry — under cover where possible, and always with the lid closed.
• Stay clear of doorways, exits and forklift paths.
• Are away from general waste bins, so staff don’t mix the two by mistake.

What access does the collection truck need?

An 1100L bin is on wheels, so it can be moved to a pickup point on collection day as long as there’s a clear, level path. A 3m³ bin is emptied by a front-lift truck, so it needs more planning: a straight approach to the front of the bin, firm and level hardstand underneath, and nothing overhead such as awnings, cables or branches.

On pickup day, make sure the approach isn’t blocked by parked cars, forklifts or pallets, and that gates are open or there’s an agreed way in. We confirm the bin location and truck access with you during setup.

What should your team put in the bin — and keep out?

Contamination is the most common reason a cardboard bin stops working well, and it’s almost always fixed with a two-minute briefing. Cover these points with everyone who unpacks stock:

1. Flatten every box. Unbroken boxes fill a bin with air and lead to overflow.
2. Keep it dry. Close the lid and don’t leave cardboard stacked outside in the rain.
3. Remove plastic. Strip off plastic film, shrink wrap, strapping and polystyrene inserts before binning.
4. Keep food out. Wax-coated produce boxes and food-soaked or greasy cardboard go in general waste, not the cardboard bin.
5. When in doubt, ask. It’s better to check than to contaminate a load.

Give one person ownership of the bin. They don’t need to do the work — just keep an eye on what’s going in and brief new starters.

How long does it take to get started?

The process is short. You send a quote request or call us, and we usually reply within 4 hours. Once you’re happy with the bin and schedule, we confirm the location and access, deliver the bin and book your first pickup. Most sites are set up within a week.

We run commercial cardboard collection routes across 85+ suburbs in Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Monash, Casey, Frankston, Knox and the Mornington Peninsula, including industrial areas such as Dandenong South, Braeside and Carrum Downs. Check your suburb on the service area page.

How do you know if the setup is working?

For the first month, check the bin a day or two before each pickup. That one habit tells you almost everything:

• Overflowing or stacked beside the bin: increase the frequency or move up a size.
• Regularly less than half full: drop back a frequency.
• Plastic, food or rubbish in the bin: repeat the team briefing and check the bin isn’t sitting next to general waste.
• A short-term spike: book an extra on-demand pickup rather than changing your regular service.

Needs differ by industry. Warehouses and logistics sites usually focus on bin capacity and dock access, retailers on timing pickups around deliveries, and cafés and restaurants on fitting a compact bin into a rear lane or enclosure.

Next step

Get a free quote with your rough weekly volume and where you’d like the bin, and we’ll recommend a bin size and pickup schedule — usually within 4 hours. Prefer to talk it through? Call 1300 410 095.