In Brisbane, a lead acid car battery and motor or gear oil can go free to Council’s resource recovery centres on any day of the year, within set limits; antifreeze, brake fluid and fuel are taken only on Council’s free hazardous waste drop-off days. No battery belongs in a household waste or recycling bin, the Queensland Government says: it goes to a collection point instead.
General information, not safety or legal advice for a particular job. Brisbane City Council is the place to check what its centres accept and when its drop-off days fall; limits below are as at October 2026.
Where each one goes
| From the car | When Council takes it | Limits and conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Lead acid car battery | Any day, free, at a resource recovery centre; also on drop-off days | Council lists lead acid car batteries among the batteries it accepts all year |
| Motor and gear oil | Any day, free, at a resource recovery centre | Up to 100 litres in all, in containers of no more than 20 litres each |
| Antifreeze | Free hazardous waste drop-off days only | 20 litres per customer per visit, in its original container, unmixed |
| Brake fluid | Free hazardous waste drop-off days only | The same 20-litre limit, original container, unmixed |
| Petrol, diesel and other fuels | Free hazardous waste drop-off days only | The same 20-litre limit, original container, unmixed |
| Windscreen washer solution | Not taken: it is on Council’s list of liquids that may go to the sewer through a sink or toilet | Never into a septic tank or a stormwater drain |
Council runs four resource recovery centres, at Nudgee and Willawong (the major centres) and at Chandler and Ferny Grove. Council’s resource recovery centres page gives each centre’s address and opening hours, and is the place to check before a trip. The drop-off days are for households: chemical or hazardous waste from businesses and other non-domestic sources is not accepted.
Carrying it there: Council’s advice, in full
For taking hazardous materials to a drop-off, Brisbane City Council gives four pieces of transport and safety advice, aimed at cutting the risk on the road and at the gate:
- Stand the containers upright in a box.
- Put them in the boot or the tray, away from passengers.
- Keep chemicals apart: never mix them.
- Check every container is sealed and in safe condition.
Council’s drop-off rules add that every item stays in its original container, unmixed, and that paint and oil containers may hold no more than 20 litres each, for workplace health and safety reasons.
If someone swallows a fluid or is splashed
The Poisons Information Centre answers on 13 11 26, at any hour, from anywhere in Australia. Its first aid steps for poisons, kept whole here in our own words:
Someone unconscious or not breathing needs an ambulance: call Triple Zero (000), ask for one, and begin CPR at once. If someone may have been poisoned, do not wait for symptoms before calling 13 11 26.
Swallowed
- Do not make the person vomit.
- Nothing to eat or drink until you have spoken to the Poisons Information Centre.
- Photograph the product’s label, or if you can’t, write down its brand and product name.
- Call 13 11 26.
In the eye
- Flood the eye gently with cool water, running from a tap or poured from a cup or jug.
- Keep going for 15 minutes, holding the eyelids open.
- Photograph the label, or note the brand and product name.
- Call 13 11 26.
On the skin
- Take off any clothing the fluid has reached, without touching the fluid yourself.
- Flood the skin with cool running water.
- Photograph the label, or note the brand and product name.
- Call 13 11 26.
Breathed in
- Get the person into fresh air at once, without putting yourself at risk.
- Do not breathe the fumes yourself.
- If it is safe, open doors and windows wide.
- If the person is not breathing, start CPR and call an ambulance on 000.
- Photograph the label, or note the brand and product name, then call 13 11 26.
Why not the bin or the drain
The Queensland Government’s reason for keeping batteries out of kerbside bins is what happens to them afterwards: crushed or punctured in a waste truck or at a recycling plant, a battery can start a fire, give off toxic gases or cause acid burns. Brisbane City Council says the same of hazardous waste in general, which can set bins and collection trucks alight and endanger the drivers. Chemicals stay out of stormwater drains and septic tanks altogether.
Oil or other chemicals that get into water are a pollution matter. The Queensland Government says most environmental reports, water pollution from oils among them, are handled by the local council; the state keeps a 24-hour Pollution Hotline on 1300 130 372 (option 2) for significant incidents, such as a chemical truck or vehicle rolling over. In an emergency, the call is Triple Zero (000).
The smaller batteries
A car is not the only battery that comes out of a clear-out. Council’s centres take many kinds of battery free all year, including AAA to D sizes, button batteries, rechargeables, lithium batteries, power banks, vapes and toys. Across Queensland, the state points people to their council, or to the national Recycle Mate website and app, to find the nearest collection point for batteries and battery-powered items.
The car itself, once drained, has its own paperwork: cancelling its registration and, if it is going for parts, checking the wrecker’s licence.