The Geelong region's craft beverage scene is growing fast. Breweries, wineries, and distilleries generate unique waste — grain, glass, cardboard, and packaging. Here is how to manage it.
The Geelong region has become one of Victoria's hottest craft beverage destinations. From breweries in South Geelong and Fyansford to wineries across the Bellarine and Moorabool Valley, the industry is booming — and every producer generates waste that does not fit neatly into a standard office bin plan.
Spent grain, glass bottles, cardboard cartons, shrink wrap, production waste, and taproom hospitality waste all need different handling. A one-size-fits-all bin setup wastes money and sends recyclable materials to landfill.
A typical craft brewery producing 20–30 hectolitres per week generates 500–1000kg of spent grain. This is NOT suitable for general waste bins — it is heavy, wet, and will overflow any bin immediately.
Best practice: arrange collection by a local farmer or stock feed supplier. Most Geelong-region farmers will take spent grain for free or a small fee. We can help connect you if needed, but grain should never go in your commercial bins.
Broken bottles, production rejects, and taproom/cellar door glass. Glass is heavy and recyclable. If you generate more than a wheelie bin of glass per week, a dedicated glass collection is more cost-effective than putting it in general waste.
Packaging materials, carton boxes, label rolls, shrink wrap from pallet deliveries. Breweries and wineries go through enormous amounts of cardboard — often more by volume than any other waste stream.
Taproom food waste, cleaning materials, production consumables, and office waste. This is usually a smaller stream than cardboard for most producers.
Set up a cardboard-only bin inside your production area. If staff have to walk across the facility to find the cardboard bin, cardboard ends up in general waste. Put it where the cardboard is generated.
A 1100L bin holds four times more cardboard when boxes are flattened. Train staff to flatten before binning. This alone can reduce your cardboard bin collections by 50%.
Put the glass bin at the end of the bottling line and behind the bar. Anywhere glass is handled, a glass bin should be within arm's reach.
We service breweries, wineries, and distilleries across the Geelong region:
Call 1300 191 626 or use our online form. Tell us what you produce, your approximate weekly output, and whether you have a taproom or cellar door. We will design a waste setup that separates streams properly and keeps your costs down.
Bin Hire Australia
Waste Management Specialist at Bin Hire Australia. Helping Australian businesses find the right waste solutions.
No — spent grain is too heavy and wet for standard bins. Most Geelong-area farmers will collect it for stock feed. We can suggest contacts if you need a grain collection arrangement.
We offer general waste and cardboard collection. For dedicated glass collection, contact us and we will advise on the best option for your volume — some producers find it cheaper to combine glass with general waste, while high-volume producers benefit from a separate glass stream.
Absolutely. Summer and vintage season mean more taproom waste and production waste. We adjust collection frequency as needed with no lock-in — just let us know when volumes change.
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