The service information presented for the London Borough of Lewisham was last updated in July 2008. Information was verified by borough contacts. The authors of this website are not responsible for any errors or omissions. Data relating to targets and performance is taken from Defra's Environment statistics.

Dry Recycling

74,000 households are served by a weekly kerbside collection. Residents are provided with a green box or green lidded wheelie bin in which to put mixed materials. Residents can also leave materials in an untied carrier bag. The materials are collected co-mingled in a Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV) and taken to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for sorting, before being sent to different reprocessors. The follow materials are collected:

• empty aerosols
• cardboard
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper including yellow pages
• plastic bottles

Dry Recycling

37,000 estates households are served by around 350 micro recycling sites.  31 purpose built recycling bays have been constructed to house recycling containers on estates and around 145 new signs have been made up displaying information on what can be recycled. A further 570 wheelie bins for smaller blocks have also been allocated. The following materials are collected:

• glass bottles and jars
• paper and cardboard
• mixed cans
• plastic bottles

Household Reuse and Recycling Centre

There is one Reuse and Recycling Centre in Lewisham:   

Landmann Way Reuse and Recycling Centre
Landmann Way
Off Surrey Canal Road
SE14 5RS

Click here for a list of materials accepted at the RRC.

Bring Recycling

There are 48 co-mingled bring sites for the collection of:

• cardboard
• paper
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• shoes textiles

Not all materials are collected at all sites. 

Paper based cartons for milk, juice, sauces and other liquid, food and drinks can be recycled at special carton collection points at 5 locations across the borough:

• Sainsbury, New Cross Gate
• Sainsbury, Forest Hill
• Laurence House car park, Catford
• Grove Park Bus Garage, Baring Road
• Tesco, Lewisham

Lewisham has been piloting a fun thought provoking bring bank design at Goldsmith’s University. The new "cow bins" consist of  comingled 1280 litre Taylors continental containers painted as cows and are the result of a partnership between the London Borough of Lewisham, Goldsmiths University, Art Mongers, Taylors and Souce.

Home Composting

Since 1999, Lewisham has supplied 6,350 compost bins to residents at subsidised prices and through free promotions. Residents are now offered compost bins at subsidised prices of £17 for a 220 litre compost converter, £20 for a 330 litre compost converter and £40 for a Komp compost bin through a promotion in partnership with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme). The offer includes free delivery and the opportunity of purchasing a kitchen caddy for £4. Interested residents should call: 08457 077 0757 or visit http://www.recyclenow.com/compost quoting reference HCA2.

Workshops are held in the Spring and Autumn to give residents the opportunity to find out more about how to compost successfully.

Nappy Waste

Lewisham is participating in the Real Nappies for London campaign, and is holding a range of events and activities throughout the borough to promote and encourage the use of Real (washable) Nappies. The scheme also offers parents and parents to be a £30 voucher which can be used to purchase Real Nappies or a nappy laundry service. For more information contact vivienne.thomson@lewisham.gov.uk. or visit: http://www.realnappiesforlondon.org.uk/index.php

Junk Mail Reduction

Lewisham promotes the Mail Preference Service to residents and business, who can sign up to reduce the amount of junk mail they receive. For more information visit: www.mpsonline.org.uk.

Bulky Waste

Lewisham will collect white goods (i.e. fridges, freezers, washing machines etc) for £30 per item.  Alternatively white goods can be taken to Landmann Way Reuse and Recycling Centre.

A number of local community groups including Deptford Action Group for the Elderly (DAGE) will collect unwanted furniture from residents for reuse. If items are unsuitable for reuse the council will collect three bulky items for £15.

Litter

Lewisham has commuter recycling bins, for the collection of newspapers and magazines, sited at Ladywell and Catford stations. Lewisham has also started to separate out recyclable materials in all parks around the borough.

Lewisham Council and Glendale's, the parks contractor, have recently started to pick out recyclables from litter.  So far this has produced:

Glendale Parks Recycling Collections:

11 Parks
2006 = 1.5 tonnes (4 months)
2007 = 6.7 tonnes
2008  = 3.3 tonnes (6 months)

Street Sweeping Recycling:

In total there are 30 sweepers beats participating in the recycling.
2006/7 = 30 tonnes
2007 = 15 tonnes  

Schools

Since 2000 the Council has been running the "Clean & Green" schools programme which aims to educate pupils in the borough about local environmental issues and waste.

Residual Waste

Residual household waste is collected weekly from the kerbside using a 240 litre wheeled bin.

Find out more about recycling in your area Visit Recycle for London
Compare Lewisham's recycling services with the rest of London	View the London Matrix
Find out more about the London Borough of Lewisham

Contact Lewisham Address: Wearside Service Centre Wearside Road London SE13 7EZ   Tel: 020 8314 7171   Email: recycle@lewisham.gov.uk