First published 30 December 2021. Reviewed and updated 19 August 2026. Always confirm the current rules on the Northern Beaches Council website before you book, as limits and eligibility change.
What the council clean-up is
The Northern Beaches Council clean-up is a free kerbside collection for households that pay the domestic waste charge. It is a good service for a spring clean or a bit of decluttering. There are limits on how much, how big and what kind of items are taken, but if you do not have a major amount of junk it does the job.
Most mainland residents book online or by phone, subject to available dates, and get two collections per twelve months. Western Foreshore and Scotland Island households have two scheduled clean-ups a year set by the waste calendar. Either way, you have to get everything to the collection point yourself, and for some properties, long driveways, steep blocks, a distance from the kerb, that is the hard part.
Plan the collection around the items you would find hardest or dearest to get rid of yourself. Do not spend your three cubic metres on things you could drop at the tip in the boot.
Preparing your Northern Beaches Council clean-up
- Check your items are not on the not-allowed list below.
- The maximum is three cubic metres. That is not a lot, roughly a small trailer load, and you can be charged if you go over.
- Whitegoods must have their doors removed, for safety.
- Stack the pile neatly in front of your property or at the designated collection point.
- Put it out the day before, not earlier. That cuts the window for other people to dump on your pile; if extra or banned items land on it, the collection may not be completed.
- Leave out building waste and hazardous items. The council can charge you for them.
- Use it for the awkward stuff. Save the easy things for a normal tip run.
What the council will not take
- Items over 1.8 m long
- Heavy items that cannot be safely moved by two people
- Liquid or business waste
- Electronic waste, specifically TVs and computers
- Car parts, tyres and oils
- Sheet glass, mirrors, windows and glass tables
- Construction material: insulation, brick, rubble, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities. Tips charge building waste at a higher rate than household waste, so it is priced separately.
- Hazardous waste: smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, gas bottles, chemicals, paint, car batteries and asbestos. Asbestos in particular needs a licensed specialist.
- Garden waste and vegetation, recyclables and ordinary household garbage (those go in your bins)
- Loose polystyrene beads: bag them, squeeze the air out, seal, and put the bag in the red bin
- Anything smaller than a toaster, including cutlery
What the council will take
Provided it does not break the rules above:
- Furniture
- Mattresses and bed bases
- Non-recyclable household items
- Up to twelve fence palings
- Rolled and tied carpet up to 1.8 m long, maximum three rolls
- Empty hot water systems
- Whitegoods, doors removed
- Up to three sheets of metal roofing, maximum 1 m x 1.5 m each
- Metal
- Empty beanbags (bag the beads for the red bin)
- Small items larger than a toaster, in unwanted bins, crates or boxes, or neatly stacked. Crates put out are not returned.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free, and a good fit for small to medium decluttering
- Bookable online on a date you choose
- Takes the ordinary junk most households accumulate
- The collection point is outside your own property
- Twice a year, so you can keep on top of clutter
- Handy for a small amount of junk at the end of a lease, a move or a downsize
Cons
- Limited to three cubic metres and to certain sizes of item
- Not suitable for large projects such as deceased estates or hoarded homes
- All the lifting and carrying is on you, or someone you organise
- Hard going on steep blocks, long driveways and distant collection points
- Plenty of item types are excluded, and you still have to deal with those another way
- You have to prepare and sort the pile
- People dump on kerbside piles, and that can stop your collection
- Items may be left behind, and you can be charged for breaking the rules
Got more than the council will take?
If you have more than three cubes, items on the banned list, or a property where getting things to the kerb is not realistic, you either take it to the tip yourself or get help. That is where we come in.
Jack's takes everything on both lists above, in one visit, from wherever it is on the property. Garden waste, e-waste, glass and mirrors, tyres, building rubble, whole garages. Anything genuinely hazardous like asbestos we handle under the proper procedures. We do the lifting, we tidy up after ourselves, and you do not touch a thing.
We have been doing this on the Beaches for thirty-seven years. Every load is sorted for recycling and disposed of at Kimbriki or another official facility; nothing is dumped. If you are on the Northern Beaches and the council clean-up will not cut it, see our Northern Beaches rubbish removal page or just call.
Why people use Jack's instead
- We do all the work and the heavy lifting
- We look through what we load and return anything of value
- We recycle everything we can and never dump a load
- No expensive skip: everything goes by truck, the same day
- One fixed price for the whole job, tip fees included
- Garden waste, computers, TVs, glass, mirrors and tyres are all fine
- Bulky items, big furniture and mattresses, no problem
- Inside, outside and the garage, and no mess left behind
- Fully insured, police checked, 117 five-star Google reviews
- Free, accurate quotes prepared by the people who actually do the work