What goes in my recycling and rubbish bins or bags?

House with front garden

We provide a weekly kerbside domestic collection service.

You must put out your rubbish, recycling and garden or food waste outside your property by 7am on the collection day.

You can store refuse in a dustbin on your property but must put the black sacks on the highway for collection. Do not place your black sacks in your organic bin (brown bin) on collection day. Brown bins are for garden and food waste only. 

For our recycling collection services, we provide, free of charge:

  • sacks
  • reusable bags
  • caddies
  • bins.

We do not provide black rubbish sacks for non-recyclable waste. You must buy these yourself.

Refuse, recycling and garden or food waste are collected on a weekly collection schedule on the same day every week and carried out in different collection vehicles.

If you're unable to put your rubbish out due to illness, infirmity or disability, you can request an assisted bin collection. 

Recycling - what goes in which bag? 

Use blue reusable recycling bags for:

  • magazines or newspapers
  • telephone directories
  • envelopes, junk mail and paper
  • paper
  • cardboard.

Use white reusable recycling bags or clear recycling sacks for:

  • glass bottles and jars
  • metal food and drink cans
  • clean metal foil
  • plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays.

We'll deliver a new roll of clear recycling sacks every 13 weeks. They will be left close to your doorstep to avoid damage to letterboxes and the sacks by posting.

After being collected, your dry mixed recycling is taken to the Materials Recovery Facility in Southwark, London. Watch the video about the recycling process

Food and garden waste

We offer a weekly food waste collection service, this must be put out for collection in a 240 litre bin.

We also provide 5 litre food caddies at no extra charge for use inside your property. We also sell food caddy liners for £2.30 for a roll of 26, caddies and liners are available from contact points and local libraries.

You can leave kitchen caddie waste, in its caddy liner, inside your brown wheelie bin on collection day.

Use your brown wheelie bin for all food and garden waste, including:

  • meat and fish
  • plate scrapings
  • fruit and vegetable peelings and cores
  • egg shells
  • tea bags and coffee grounds.

Use your brown garden sack for:

  • grass and hedge clippings
  • garden prunings and weeds
  • small branches (no more than 5cm across)
  • dead plants.

Along with your brown wheelie bin, you can place an extra two open non-black garden sacks out for collection. Read more on organic waste bins (brown bins).

Order new recycling bags and bins

General rubbish

All non-recyclable rubbish (including disposable nappies) should go into rubbish bags. We recommend you use black rubbish sacks that you can buy from local shops and supermarkets.

Please ensure waste is spread out within your black sacks, that bags are not overfilled and that they are strong enough to stop any waste from spilling out. If in doubt, double bag or split your waste over multiple black sacks.