Table of Contents

• Introduction to Zero-Waste Landscaping and Why It Matters
• Melbourne's Sustainability Leadership and Regulatory Push
• Smart Waste Management: Green-Waste Skip Bins vs General Skips
• Soil Screening vs Soil Disposal: Benefits and Processes
• Tipping Your Trailer: Best Practices for Drop-Offs
• Composting and Mulch Reuse: Closing the Loop
• Real-World Examples and Case Studies in Melbourne
• Step-by-Step Instructions to Landscape Without the Landfill Impact
• How Need A Skip Now Contributes to Zero-Waste Landscaping

Introduction to Zero-Waste Landscaping and Why It Matters

 

Zero-waste landscaping is an approach to garden design and maintenance that aims to eliminate waste by reusing, recycling, or composting all materials and organic matter. In practice, this means that everything from grass clippings to excavated soil is repurposed instead of ending up in landfill. This concept matters because traditional landscaping can generate significant waste – think of piles of removed soil, pruned branches, or old pavers, which often go straight to the tip. By contrast, a zero-waste approach treats these as valuable resources, feeding them back into the garden or the broader landscape industry. The benefits are two-fold: reduced environmental impact and improved garden health. For example, composting garden clippings creates nutrient-rich soil amendments and keeps organic waste out of landfill, preventing methane emissions and returning nutrients to your garden.

 

Melbourne’s Sustainability Leadership and Regulatory Push

 

Melbourne has earned a reputation as a sustainability leader, and its policies around waste and recycling reflect that. The City of Melbourne (one of the major City Councils) has a bold vision to transition toward zero waste to landfill, outlined in its Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030. This strategy sets targets to reduce overall waste generation, dramatically increase recycling, and cut greenhouse emissions from waste.

At a state level, the Victorian government is also driving change with an ambitious goal to divert 80% of all waste from landfill by 2030. Key initiatives supporting this include the rollout of Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) bins to all households by 2030, ensuring almost every Victorian can separate green waste for composting.

Such policies are a big boost for zero-waste landscaping: gardeners now have council-provided green bins and local composting facilities to handle leaves, grass, and branches sustainably. Moreover, regulations have tightened on what can be dumped in landfills. For instance, soil disposal is more strictly regulated under EPA guidelines – many tips will not accept loads of soil mixed with other waste.

For more details, visit our previous blog of Soil Disposal in Melbourne.

 

Smart Waste Management: Green-Waste Skip Bins vs General Skips

 

One of the smartest moves you can make on a landscaping project is choosing the right type of skip bin for your waste. Green-waste skip bins are designated for organic garden waste: grass, branches, leaves, tree trunks, and other biodegradable materials. Hiring a green-waste skip means all that material will go to a composting or mulching facility instead of landfill.

Read more about skip bin waste types here.

Tossing everything into a general waste skip can send recyclable organics to landfill and often costs more. In fact, when different materials are mixed together in one bin, the load is classed as “mixed heavy waste,” which is typically the most expensive type of waste to dispose of.

Many skip providers offer discounted rates for clean green waste loads, reflecting the lower cost and higher recycling potential of organic material.

Organic waste in landfill breaks down anaerobically and produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Using a green-waste bin ensures those nutrients go back to the earth as compost rather than contributing to emissions.

 

Soil Screening vs Soil Disposal: Benefits and Processes

By screening soil, you reduce disposal volume and keep valuable topsoil in circulation. Conversely, dumping unscreened soil – especially if mixed with bricks or green waste – is more expensive and often rejected at landfills due to contamination concerns.

It is therefore important to ask your skip bin supplier: “what happens to my soil, once it leaves my site”? If there is no clear answer or if the provider just dumps it at some farm illegally then it will certainly pause a concern to the environment.

At Need A Skip Now - we can provide a very clear answer to what happens to your soil when it comes to our Waste Transfer Station. Whether we receive your soil in the bin or you come and tip it with your tipper truck or trailer - it undergoes a very vigorous and extensive separation process, where soil is separated from the Stones, Debris, any impurities and brought to the purest condition, ready to be taken to a soil recycling facility for the repurposing.

At Need A Skip Now we operate a conveyor screening line for sorting and repurposing materials into viable recycling streams.

Take a look at the video below showing our conveyor screen line.

 

Tipping Your Trailer: Best Practices for Drop-Offs

 

For smaller landscaping or gardening jobs, tipping your trailer at a waste transfer station offers a practical, budget-friendly, and eco-conscious option, in addition to hiring a skip. This approach is ideal for loads under 2 cubic meters, such as post-pruning piles of green waste, soil from a small excavation, or a modest clean-up of outdoor materials.

To stay in line with zero-waste landscaping principles, the key is proper sorting. It’s always recommended to try to separate materials by type: green waste (like branches, grass, or hedge trimmings), soil, rubble, concrete, or metal, wherever possible. In line with EPA Victoria regulations, most waste transfer stations (including Need A Skip Now's Clayton South facility) will not accept mixed loads containing soil, as these are difficult to sort and often end up in landfills.

By keeping waste streams clean and separated, you're helping recycling infrastructure work efficiently. Facilities like Need A Skip Now don’t just dispose of your waste—they actively recover recyclable components, including reusable soil and organics. In fact, unlike many stations that charge by weight, they charge per cubic meter, which means substantial savings if your load includes dense materials like soil or concrete.

Tipping trailers also supports circular resource use. Your sorted materials can go straight into dedicated recycling streams: green waste becomes mulch, soil gets screened and reused, and bricks or concrete are crushed for reuse in construction. So, even if your project is small, your effort in sorting helps Melbourne move closer to its zero-waste goals.

Read about how to check if you soil is contaminated on our previous blog post.

 

 

Composting and Mulch Reuse: Closing the Loop

 

If you’re a homeowner or avid gardener, composting and mulching are two of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce waste right in your own backyard. Instead of tossing grass clippings, pruned branches, autumn leaves, or food scraps into the bin, you can transform them into valuable compost that nourishes your soil and keeps your garden thriving, all without relying on landfill or synthetic fertilisers.

By composting at home, you’re not just cutting down on waste—you’re preventing harmful greenhouse gases too. When organic material goes to landfill, it breaks down without oxygen and releases methane, a potent contributor to climate change. But with a compost bin or worm farm, decomposition happens aerobically, creating nutrient-rich compost that boosts soil structure, holds moisture, and supports healthier plants. It’s a simple way to turn yesterday’s scraps into tomorrow’s garden.

Mulching is just as rewarding. Instead of buying bagged mulch, you can shred your own woody offcuts or rake up fallen leaves to create a natural ground cover. Mulch helps suppress weeds, insulate your soil, and return carbon and nutrients back into the earth as it breaks down, keeping your garden low-maintenance and lush, without the extra cost or emissions from transport and packaging.

Melbourne’s climate is ideal for all kinds of composting methods—whether it’s a classic hot compost pile, a low-effort worm farm, or a compact Bokashi system for kitchen waste. And while the city’s expanding FOGO program makes green waste collection easier than ever, composting and mulching on-site keeps everything hyper-local. You’ll not only save on waste collection but also build a more resilient, self-sustaining garden that truly closes the loop.

If you’re looking to create a zero-waste garden and reduce your environmental footprint, starting a compost pile or mulching what’s already in your yard is one of the most empowering and immediate steps you can take. It’s practical, cost-effective, and a brilliant way to give back to your own soil.

 

Real-World Examples and Case Studies in Melbourne

 

It’s inspiring to see that zero-waste landscaping isn’t just a theory – it’s happening on the ground in Melbourne. Let’s look at a couple of real-world examples and case studies that highlight how these principles come to life.

One innovative example is the City of Melbourne’s Remix Raingardens pilot project. In 2023, as part of a sustainability and climate resilience initiative, a raingarden was installed in Fishermans Bend using layers of locally recycled waste materials instead of all-new supplies. The raingarden’s design incorporates crushed concrete, reclaimed wood, organic compost, and even recycled glass as part of its soil and filtration layers. In other words, materials that might have been dumped are literally forming the foundation of a public garden that manages stormwater and nurtures plants. This project closes the loop on local waste while also solving an environmental challenge (urban flooding) – a win-win scenario. The success of Remix Raingardens is being closely watched, with sensors and tests measuring how well these recycled materials support plant growth and water filtration. If successful, it could pave the way for more landscaping projects around the city to confidently use recovered waste materials, proving that a circular approach can meet high performance standards.

Another case study is in the organic waste recycling sector, which connects back to our own backyards. Melbourne-based company Repurpose It has demonstrated how separating your green waste truly pays off. Repurpose It operates a large composting facility in Epping where they receive food and garden scraps collected from household green bins. Instead of this organic matter rotting in landfill, it’s turned into high-quality compost for farms, gardens, and landscaping projects. Banana peels, grass clippings, even bones and onion skins – all the smelly stuff you wouldn’t want to keep – are processed into a soil conditioner that boosts fertility in Victoria’s farms and home gardens. This is zero-waste landscaping at a regional scale: residents diligently fill their green bins, and companies like this transform that “waste” into a product that enriches soils. It closes the loop between city and country. In fact, most Victorians now have access to a food and garden organics service, and those who use it are directly contributing to this circular economy. The program’s impact is tangible: greenhouse emissions are cut and local agriculture gets a sustainable source of compost.

One excellent example of a business embracing zero-waste landscaping is Van Leeuwen Green, a Melbourne-based landscaping company. They’ve adopted a proactive approach by pre-sorting their waste on-site, allowing them to dispose of materials like soil, green waste, and rubble in a way that supports full recycling. By eliminating landfill waste entirely, they ensure that each material is processed and reused efficiently. They also rely on our waste transfer station to regularly drop off large loads of soil, which is then screened and repurposed, helping to keep topsoil in circulation and reducing the need for new resources.

These examples show that whether it’s a city council project, a business, or individual citizens, Melbourne is brimming with success stories where waste is turned into a resource. They serve as inspiration and proof that zero-waste landscaping is not just possible – it’s already happening.

 

Read our previous blog on how to hire skip bins during wet weather.

 

Step-by-Step Instructions to Landscape Without the Landfill Impact

 

You don’t need to be a sustainability expert to keep your waste out of landfill. Whether you're a homeowner, landscaper, or builder, here’s your practical blueprint to get it done.

Step 1: Choose the Right Skip Bin for the Right Waste

Not all skips are created equal. A green-waste skip is designed specifically for organic materials like grass, leaves, and branches, and ensures they go to compost or mulch rather than landfill.

Using a general waste skip for everything may seem easier, but it’s more expensive and significantly less eco-friendly. That’s because mixed waste is harder to recycle and often ends up dumped.

Step 2: Select a Skip Bin Supplier who Screens your Soil

If your project involves digging up soil, resist the urge to send it straight to the tip. Soil screening is a process where you sift out rubble, roots, and debris, leaving behind clean topsoil that can be reused. This not only reduces your disposal volume but can save you money on buying new soil. The skip bin supplier is expected to screen soil at their facility to ensure compliance with EPA regulations.

Step 3: Tip Your Trailer the Smart Way

Tipping your trailer at a waste transfer station can be a great solution for smaller projects.

But it’s only effective if you combine the right waste in your trailer.

Mixed waste will often be rejected, especially if it includes soil, due to EPA guidelines. Instead, divide your materials before heading to the tip.

Read more about trailer tipping on our website.

Step 4: Close the Loop with Composting and Mulch

Encourage composting and mulching to be done on-site by the resident or property owner wherever possible. Green offcuts from pruning or mowing can be turned into compost, enriching the soil and keeping waste out of landfill.

Woody offcuts can be mulched and spread across garden beds, while autumn leaves make an excellent natural mulch. For kitchen scraps and smaller green waste, simple systems like worm farms or Bokashi bins are ideal and easy to maintain at home. It's a low-cost, low-effort way for residents to give back to their own garden, naturally.

To learn how to keep you site clean and compliant read our recent blog post.

 

How Need A Skip Now Contributes to Zero-Waste Landscaping

 

Any discussion on waste management in landscaping would be incomplete without highlighting the services that help make it all possible. We actively enabling zero-waste practices for gardeners, landscapers, and builders through our skip bin hire and recycling initiatives. As a local skip bin hire provider, Need A Skip Now has over 14 years of experience and a strong focus on sustainability.

How can we help you achieve a zero-waste landscaping project? Let’s break it down:

Skip Bin Hire with Waste Sorting

When you hire a skip from Need A Skip Now, you’re not just getting a big empty bin – you’re getting a service that will sort and process your waste responsibly after pickup. We take each filled skip back to our licensed waste transfer station in Melbourne, where the contents are carefully sorted on conveyor belts and with excavators. Recyclables are separated out: green waste to composting, concrete and bricks to be crushed and reused, metals to recycling, and so on. By performing this rigorous sorting, Need A Skip Now diverts as much waste as possible from landfill. This means even if you, as the customer, aren’t sure about separating every little thing, their process will catch recyclables and ensure they are recovered.

Specialized Bins for Clean Waste Streams

Need A Skip Now encourages customers to dispose of waste in separate streams whenever feasible, because source-separated waste is easier to recycle. They offer specific skip bins for materials like 100% soil, 100% concrete, or 100% green waste.

If you have a landscaping job with one predominant waste type (say a lot of soil from a garden excavation), they’ll provide a dedicated soil bin. This not only makes recycling straightforward (that soil can be screened and reused), but also comes with cost benefits – you aren’t charged the higher mixed waste rate. As our team point out, mixing heavy materials together makes disposal costly, whereas separating recyclable materials like soil, concrete, bricks or metal can save you money.

We offer fixed pricing for heavy waste bins that include soil mixed with bricks and rubble, so customers don’t get weight-based surprises.

To read our previous blog post about ordering the right size skip bin, click here.

Soil Screening and Recycling

Need A Skip Now operate our own soil screening equipment as part of its recycling facility. This means that when we collect skips with soil (or you bring soil to our transfer station), we can actually screen and clean that soil on-site. Usable topsoil is recovered and made available for future projects, and materials like metal or rubble are filtered out for appropriate recycling. By investing in such infrastructure, we as a company are actively creating a circular outcome for what would otherwise be waste. Clean soil can go on to fill someone else’s garden bed instead of filling a hole in the ground at a dump.

 

 

In essence, Need A Skip Now acts as a crucial link in the zero-waste landscaping chain. We provide the tools (bins and a facility) and the know-how (waste separation, recycling routes, soil recovery) that transform what you throw away from your landscaping project into something that can be used again. If you’re undertaking a garden makeover, a yard clean-up, or a landscaping job in Melbourne, partnering with an environmentally-conscious company like this means your project’s waste will be handled in the greenest way possible. It takes the burden off you to find recycling options for each material – we’ve already built that system. By choosing such a service, you’re effectively voting for sustainability with your dollars, and helping the local circular economy grow.

Zero-waste landscaping is not just a trend — it's an achievable goal in Melbourne. With state-wide FOGO programs, evolving regulations, and services like those offered by Need A Skip Now, sustainable landscaping is more accessible than ever. Ready to rethink your project’s waste plan?

From bin hire to reuse and recycling, Need A Skip Now is your partner in building a cleaner, greener future.

Book online or give us a call at 1300 605 624 today.