Recycling and waste collections
Presenting your recycling and waste for collection
Your recycling and waste needs to be placed in the correct containers, securely contained and placed at the edge of your property within arms reach of the pavement (edge of curtilage) by 7am on your scheduled collection days. Please do not place containers directly on the pavement.
Please ensure that your containers and waste is easily accessible. If it not presented correctly or is hidden behind a locked gate or a parked car, we may not be able to collect it. A missed collection cannot be reported, and you will have to wait until the next scheduled collection day.
In the case of unforeseen circumstances such as poor weather conditions, vehicle breakdowns, roadworks or a police incident, we may not be able to collect, but we’ll do our best to catch up as soon as possible.
We will collect household non-recyclable refuse in black sacks, or equivalent, that fits easily into a standard size dustbin. If you are using your own wheelie bin or similar to contain your non-recyclable refuse it needs to be bagged in standard size refuse sacks to enable safe collection.
Wheelie bins are designed to be tipped on the back of a collection vehicle for safe emptying of the contents. If you use a wheelie bin to store your non-recyclable waste, our collection teams may need to tip it on the back of the collection vehicle. If you chose to use a wheelie bin, it must also comply with the safety regulation EN840, so please check with the manufacturer or retailer when purchasing.
We supply containers for all recycling collections, but residents are to provide their own containers for non-recyclable refuse.
Should you be unable to place your recycling and waste at the edge of your property for collection or require assistance with collections, please contact us on 0300 303 8658.
Check your next collection day details or download a calendar.
On your collection day we collect
- Food waste and either
- Black box (paper) and non-recyclable refuse or
- Green box (bottles, cans and glass)
- Batteries, small electrical items, clothes and textiles
Recycling guide - printable leaflet
Specialised collections
We do not collect the following items in these regular collections. Placing these items in your household waste may result in your waste not being collected:
- Heavy (over 25kg) or bulky waste (e.g. carpets, lino, furniture) that does not fit in your normal bin
- Garden waste
- Construction or demolition waste - find out more about householders duty of care
- Hazardous waste (e.g. oil, asbestos or paint, etc)
- Dead pets - contact your vet for advice
- Commercial waste (e.g. produced by a shop, office or home business)
- Clinical waste
My collection has been missed - what should I do?
Your recycling and waste will be collected on the same day but please be aware that some of your collections will be at different times. Ensure you leave out your recycling and waste for our crews to collect until the end of the day before reporting a missed collection, and report this within two working days of the collection. If your container was not presented at the edge of your property by 7am you will be asked to wait until your next collection day.
On occasion, there may be incidents that cause delays to your collections. If your recycling or waste hasn’t been collected, you can check our website at www.bromley.gov.uk/wastecollectiondelays to see which streets are affected by delays we’re aware of. If the website doesn’t show a delay in your area, we may have genuinely missed collecting your bins on this occasion, please report this to us.