Putting your bins out

You need to put your bins, boxes and bags on your property boundary by 7am on the morning of your collection day.

If you live in a flat, you should have communal bins for non-recycling and recycling which we collect. We do not have a separate food waste collection for flat blocks.

We make collections every week. One week we collect non-recycling, the next week will be recycling. We collect food waste every week. You can check your upcoming collection dates.

Extra waste

We recommend you put your waste loose into your recycling and non-recycling bins, rather than in bags, as you will fit more in and use less plastic bags. 

We will collect extra recycling. You need to put this in clear or white bags only - do not use any other colour bags as we will not collect these. Put the bags next to your full recycling wheelie bin or box. 

We will not collect any extra non-recycling - we will only empty what is in the non-recycling wheelie bin with the lid shut. If you don’t have a wheelie bin, we will only collect the Harlow Council purple sacks (up to 3 per fortnight).

If you are recycling everything you can, putting waste loose into your bin and still regularly have extra non-recycling, you can look at our other waste options or you can make a request for extra capacity, which our Waste team will review.

Hangers

We will not collect your recycling and rubbish if you have:

• used the wrong bin, box or bag for your items
• put the wrong items into your bin, box or bag
• put out the wrong bins for collection day
• not put out your bins by 7am
• put out too many bags or overfilled your bin and the lid does not fully close
• a bin that is too heavy, as this can damage the vehicle

If you have not used the system correctly, we will put an advisory hanger on your bin. You will need to follow the instructions on the hanger to avoid any future problems with your collections.