Refuse services
Your household rubbish will be collected once a week. 

You can arrange collection of large items and garden waste for a small charge.

These services are only for household waste. There are different arrangements for commercial waste.

• Household refuse collection
• Find your collection day
• Garden waste collection
• Civic amenity sites (tips or dumps)
• Bulky item collection (furniture etc)
• Hazardous waste (paint and chemicals)
• Skip licensing 
• Planning guidance for new developments
• Report a problem or contact us

Household refuse collection

• Rubbish collected in sacks/ordinary dustbins
• Rubbish collection from blocks of flats
• Rubbish collection from town centres (flats above shops)

Rubbish collected in sacks/ordinary dustbins

Rubbish and recycling collections are carried out on the same day each week, including all public holidays except Christmas Day (25 December) and New Year's Day (1 January). These collections operate from Monday to Saturday. Collections over Christmas and New Year may be made one day late - any changes will be publicised in advance.

Please follow the instructions below to make sure that your rubbish can be collected.

Refuse should be ready for collection by 6am on collection day.

All refuse should be left in a strong sack or dustbin. Using a dustbin will make it more difficult for animals to cause litter. Please do not use a wheelie bin - we cannot empty them safely and your refuse will not be collected.

If you have a front garden:
Leave your refuse and recycling inside your front garden. Please help us by leaving it as near to the entrance as possible, but do not put it on the pavement.

If you do not have a front garden:
Leave your refuse and recycling on the pavement by your front door. Do not put your refuse or recycling sacks on the pavement any earlier than 6pm the day before collection is due. Do not leave your refuse or recycling by lamp-posts, litter bins, trees etc.

Refuse and recycling will not normally be collected from back gardens, back alleys or landings. If you are not able to move refuse and recycling to the front of your property or do not know where to put them, please contact us on 0208 8871 8558. 

 Find your refuse and recycling collection day

Leaving your refuse on the pavement when you should not may result in a fine of up to £2,500

Please note: we provide orange sacks for recycling but do not provide plastic sacks or dustbins for other household rubbish. General rubbish put in to orange recycling sacks will not be collected - doing so may result in a fine of up to £1,000.

Rubbish collected in shared, wheeled bins
Where these are provided (normally at blocks of flats) we will empty them at least once a week.

You can contact us to find your collection days.

We can only collect rubbish that has been placed inside the bin.
To help us provide you with a reliable service and to reduce problems with mess building up in the storage area, please make sure that you:

• Put your rubbish inside the bins, in securely tied bags
• Do not leave sacks or other items on the floor around the bin
• Do not park your car where it may block access to the bin store
• Only put household rubbish in the bins
• Do not put bricks or similar items in the bin
• Do not force large items into rubbish chutes as chutes may become blocked.

Rubbish collections in town centres
Residents living above commercial premises on main roads in town centres have a nightly collection service:

• Rubbish will only be collected if you put it at the front of your property (by your door)
• Rubbish should be secured in a black sack
• It must be ready for collection by 10pm every night but not before 8pm
• Do not put your sacks by lamp posts, litter bins or mix it with shop rubbish
• Orange recycling sacks will be collected once a week on the normal collection day in your area

Report a problem
All complaints are logged and given to the contractor twice each day. Any remedial work should be completed by the end of the following day. Contact us to report a missed collection or other problem with your rubbish or recycling service.

Contact us
Contact us for general enquiries and complaints about all waste services including street cleansing, fly-tipping, refuse and recycling.

The refuse service Citizen's Charter contains full details on the service provided, what to do if you have a complaint and how you can help us.