The service information presented for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames was last updated in October 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

Richmond operates a weekly kerbside recycling collection, serving 65,000 household. Residents are provided with a blue box and a black box.  The following materials can be placed in each container:

Blue bag:

• paper
• cardboard
• yellow pages

Black box:

• aerosols
• aluminium foil
• books
• cardboard
• glass bottles and jar
• mixed cans
• plastic bottles

These materials are sorted at the kerbside into a compartmentalised vehicle.

Organics

Richmond provides a borough-wide fortnightly green garden waste collection service. 14,500 households of the 65,000 in the borough have chosen to opt in to the service.  Residents need to purchase either compostable sacks at a charge of £1 each or hire a wheelie bin at a charge of £30 per year.  There is no additional collection charge.  Sacks can be purchased from local libraries and post offices or by calling the Green Waste Line on 020 8891 7027.

60,500 households are served by a weekly separate food waste collection scheme. Residents are provided with a 5 litre kitchen caddy for indoor storage and a 25 litre bin to leave the food waste out for collection. Liners are available from libraries for £1.75 per pack of 20. The food waste is collected using a compartmentalised vehicle with a compaction pod at the rear.

Dry Recycling

There are 500 recycling bring sites serving 13,000 flats in the borough. Sets of seven wheelie bins are provided, ususally in or near the bin store are provided for the collection of:

• aerosols
• aluminium foil
• cardboard
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper
• plastic bottles
• yellow pages

Flats Above Shops

Richmond has 2,500 flats above shops.  The council has made available permanent on-street bring sites for all flats above shops.

Household Reuse and Recycling Centre

There is one Reuse and Recycling Centre (RRC) in Richmond:  

Townmead Road Reuse and Recycling Centre
Kew
TW9 4EL

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

Bring Banks

There are 123 public bring sites in Richmond, collecting the following materials in separate recycling bins:

• aerosols
• aluminium foil
• books
• cardboard
• drink cartons
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper
• plastic bottles
• shoes
• textiles

Not all materials are collected at all sites.

Home Composting

Richmond has run a home composting scheme since 1995.  Compost bins are available at a subsidised rate of £17 for a 220 litre bin and £20 for a 330 litre bin.  Over 1,100 composters have been distributed to date.

Nappy Waste

Richmond promotes the use of real nappies to residents as an alternative to disposables and provides a subsidy of £50 cash back on the cost of real nappies.

Junk mail reduction

Richmond promotes the use of the Mail Preference Service, which enables residents to sign up to reduce the amount of unwanted mail they receive: www.mpsonline.org.uk. The council also distributes 'No Junk Mail' stickers.

Scrap Store

The EcoAction Scrapstore is a free service provided for those who live in and work in the borough. It stocks a variety of donated materials suitable for scrap art projects from card and paper to circuit boards and fabric.

Material aware shopping

Richmond promotes green shopping and can provide residents with reusable shopping bags.

Waste Exchange

Richmond-upon-Thames Freecycle group is a internet based group where residents of Richmond can exchange unwanted good with other residents free of charge.  For more information please visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/richmonduponthamesfreecycle/

Bulky waste collection

Richmond council provides residents with a bulky waste collection service.  The service cost £22 for each fridge or freezer and £28 for up to five items of bulky waste with £3 for each additional item.

Litter

The London Borough of Richmond is the greenest borough in London, making the autumn leaf fall a major problem for street cleaning. During autumn the council uses specialist equipment, including suction machinery, to collect and send the majority of the yearly leaf fall for composting.

Schools Recycling

EcoAction offers a package of classes to help schools look at problems and solutions relating to waste.  These include a waste and recycling slideshow, an environmental waste audit, help in setting up recycling systems in school, and practical workshops on recycled paper making or newspaper stick building. 

Residual Waste

Residual household waste is collected weekly from kerbside properties.  Residents are either provided with a wheeled bin or use refuse sacks.

Commercial Waste and Recycling

Richmond council is currently undertaking a trial commercial waste recycling scheme for cardboard, glass bottles and jars and paper.  Container size and collection frequency are tailored to suit individual businesses in the trial.  Commercial waste is also accepted the Reuse and Recycling Centre.

Find out more about recycling in your area Visit Recycle for London
Compare Richmond's recycling services with the rest of London	View the Borough Service Summary Table
Find out more about the London Borough of Richmond

Contact Richmond Address: Recycling Office Central Depot Langhorn Drive Twickenham TW2 7SG   Tel: 08456 122 660 Email: recycling@richmond.gov.uk   Recycling Team: Gemma Scott (Recycling Manager), Sarah Walton (Environment Officer), Dimitra Rizou (Estates Recycling officer), David Ingham (Organic Waste Officer), Alison Harris (Environment Assistant)