What's changed
From Monday 27 February, we started collecting general waste from your black top bin every two weeks.
We still collect your food and garden waste bin and recycling bin every week.
Who this affects
If you live in a property that uses wheelie bins, we collect general waste every two weeks.
You are not affected if:
- your property cannot have bins and you only use bags
- you live in a flat with large communal bins
Why we’re doing this
We've made these changes to:
- move Towards Zero Waste, this is a vital step in our action against the climate emergency
- reduce our vehicle emissions by 60 tonnes of CO2 each year by making fewer collections
- incinerate less waste by recycling more which is kinder to the planet
Watch our video to find out how we're moving Towards Zero Waste or read the video transcript
This change comes after a six week consultation in 2020 which confirmed that most residents understood the need for the changes we proposed.
Generating less general waste in the borough will also support the Mayor of London's Environment Strategy to reach a London-wide recycling rate of 50% by 2025.
Many London boroughs who have switched to collecting general waste every other week have seen increased recycling rates.
Read our Carbon Neutral Plan to see what else we’re doing to respond to the climate emergency.
Changes to collecting contaminated recycling
In November 2022, we stopped collecting blue or green contaminated wheelie bins.
If the wrong items go in your bin, we'll put a red tag on it and send you a letter explaining why. You'll need to remove the item for us to empty it the next week. If your bin is contaminated three times, we'll remove it.
Find out how to recycle the right items and what we do if you put the wrong items in your recycling.
What we're doing to help with the change
We’ll tell you your collection day
You can also check your collection day online.
Check your collection day
We'll tell you what can and cannot be recycled
Check where to recycle, donate or get rid of items
We'll review requests for larger bins
Most people already have a standard size bin. But if you have the smaller one and need a larger one, you can request the 240-litre bin.
Request a larger bin
What you can do to make the change easier
Do not contaminate your recycling
Wash out any recyclable items before you put them in your blue top bin.
Put non recyclable items in your black top bin.
More about recycling contamination
Put food in your green top bin
Check what to put in your green top bin
Recycle more
If you have more waste than usual, you can visit the Re-use and Recycling Centre or a bring site.
Find out how to reduce your waste and recycle more
Extra black top bins if your household creates a lot of waste
If you have more waste than others, for example if you use a lot of nappies or incontinence products, you can request an extra black top bin.
Email contact.centre@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or call 020 8921 4661.
We will not collect extra bags of general waste not contained in your black top bin.
About our collections
Put your bins and sacks outside your property by 6am on collection day.
Sometimes your rubbish may be missed. Find out about missed rubbish collections.
Assisted collections
We will continue to assess requests for assisted collections and offer these to older people or disabled residents who cannot move their bin.
Call 020 8921 4661 to ask for an assisted collection assessment or email contact.centre@royalgreenwich.gov.uk