Simpler Recycling

These changes affect approximately 27,000 households in the district. Enter your postcode in the look up tool at the top of this page to see if you’re affected. If your service is not changing, please continue to use your existing bins and schedule as normal.

If the change affects you, your collection schedule will look like this:

• A weekly food waste collection
• General waste collected every two weeks
• Paper, cardboard, glass, tins and plastic collected together, every two weeks. This is called mixed recycling.

See ‘how it works’ below for more.

To help you get started, depending on how we’ll collect your waste, you will get some or all of the following:

• Small silver caddy (bin): For your daily food waste. This is small enough to keep on your kitchen worktop.
• Biodegradable liners: A roll of 26 liners for your silver caddy.
• Brown lockable caddy: A larger caddy to store your food waste outside.
• Clear plastic sacks: For mixed recycling. These can be reordered when you run out.

Remember, this section is only relevant if you live in one of the 27,000 affected properties, use the postcode look up tool to check.

Food waste

• Use the small lined silver caddy for daily food waste. When the liner is full, tie it up and put it into the bigger brown lockable caddy outside.
• On collection day, you put your lockable brown food caddy out. And either your general (black bagged) waste or your mixed (clear sack) recycling.

Mixed recycling

• Mixed recycling includes paper, cardboard, glass, tins, and plastics all together.
• Place your mixed recycling in a clear plastic sack (which we will provide for you). If you already have either a blue or red lidded wheelie bin, you can put the items loose in there.
  Red bags and blue boxes will no longer be used – if you have those, please use the clear plastic sacks instead.
  Remember this only applies to you if you are one of the 27,000 households affected – check the postcode look-up to see if that’s you!
• Put your recycling out with your food waste (brown lockable bin).

If you have a black seagull proof bag, a red recycling bag or a blue recycling box:

Your mixed recycling now goes into the clear sacks (which we will provide for you). Rinse any food packaging first so it doesn’t attract wildlife. 

On recycling collection day you can put the clear sacks in your black seagull proof bag.  (You should still use your seagull proof bag for general waste collection)

You will no longer use your red bags and blue boxes once the change takes effect.

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Whether you use bins or clear plastic sacks, there is no limit to how much mixed recycling you can put out.

Have you checked your postcode? If there is no change to your service, please continue to separate your recycling as usual.

We will collect food and general waste, one week. We will collect food and mixed recycling, the next.

• Week one: Food waste (brown bin) + General waste (black bin or bag).
• Week two: Food waste (brown bin) + Mixed recycling (blue lid bin or clear sack).

The new service begins the week starting from Monday 13 April 2026.

The day of the week we collect your waste or recycling will stay the same.

Households will receive enough plastic sacks to last them for about 6 months. New clear sacks will be able to be ordered from the website in a few months.

Residents can present an unlimited amount of compliant recycling. Not everything can be recycled, so it’s important that you check before you put it out for collection. Non-compliant items contaminate the recycling and will result in your bin not being emptied.

You can recycle paper, cardboard, glass, tins and plastic together.