The service information presented for the London Borough of the city of London was last updated in September 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

600 households have recycling collected on a night time kerbside collection scheme. Residents are provided with clear plastic sacks for the co-mingled (mixed together) collection of:

• aerosols
• books
• cardboard
• drinks cartons
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper
• plastic bottles
• yellow pages

This is collected nightly Monday to Friday using a caged vehicle. Material is sent to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for sorting and bulking before being sent for reprocessing.

Organics

City of London operates a fortnightly collection of food waste on three estates.  Residents are provided with a kitchen caddy and biodegradable liners for collection of their food waste.  All food waste, including meat is accepted and residents are encouraged to wrap food waste in newspaper.  Other compostable materials accepted include cut flowers and plant clippings.

For information on how to participate, click here!

Dry Recycling

City of London provides a door to door collection of recyclable materials to 2,942 households on four estates. Collections are carried out at least twice weekly and residents are provided with clear sacks in which they can leave out:

• aerosols
• cardboard
• drinks cartons
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper
• plastic bottles

Materials are transferred to securely sited recycling bins by estate cleaners, concierges or residents themselves. The sacks are collected at least twice a week using a caged vehicle.

About 2,400 households in privately managed multi-occupancy blocks are served by private bring sites. Residents have been provided with clear plastic sack to deposit in 240/1100 litre wheeled bins. Residents can recycle:

• aerosols
• cardboard
• drinks cartons
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper
• plastic bottles
• yellow pages

Materials are sent to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for sorting and bulking before being sent for reprocessing.

Organics

957 households on three estates are served by a twice weekly collection of food waste. Residents are provided with a vented kitchen caddy and biodegradable liners. The collection includes all fruit and vegetable waste as well as meat, cut flowers and small pot plants. Food can be wrapped in newspaper. This material is sent via London Borough of Bexley to County Mulch in Suffolk for in-vessel composting.

Flats Above Shops

City of London has 580 flats above shops.  These flats are offered a daily kerbside collection of clear recycling sacks and refuse sacks, both as a permanent service.  Recycling should be set out from 9:30pm and refuse should be set out by 8am, Monday to Friday.  Accepted recyclable materials include:

• Aerosols
• Cardboard
• Glass bottles and jars
• Mixed cans
• Paper
• Plastic bottles
• Cartons (Tetra Pak)

Household Reuse and Recycling Centre

There are no Reuse and Recycling Centres (RRC) in the City of London. Residents can use the RRC located in Tower Hamlets:

Northumberland Wharf
Yabsley Street
Isle of Dogs
E14 9RG

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

Bring Banks

There are five Salvation Army bring backs on estates across the City where shoes and textiles can be recycled. There are also nine commuter recycling bins located at tube station entrances for the recycling of newspapers and magazines.

Nappy Waste

The City of London believes residents should have an alternative to using disposable nappies and supports the use of real nappies. Nappy Ever After operates a nappy washing service in the Square Mile. The City is now offering residents £50 cash back on the cost of real nappies or use of a laundry service.

Charity Shops

The City of London advises residents with unwanted items to contact a local charity, Toynbee Hall.  Toynbee Hall will collect unwanted items, please call 020 7392 2933 to arrange a collection.

Junk Mail

City of London supports the Mailing Preference Service (MPS), a service that householders can register with to reduce the amount of junk mail they receive. For more information or to register with the Mailing Preference Service please call 0845 070 0707 or visit www.mpsonline.org.uk.

Material aware shopping

The City of London promotes material aware shopping and can provide reusable shopping bags to residents

For information on how to participate, click here!

Bulky Waste Collection

The City of London provides a free bulky waste collection.  Whenever possible items are refurbished and passed on to low income households. Fridges and freezers are recycled after the CFC from the cooling system and insulation have been extracted. All electrical and electronic items collected through the City of London's domestic bulky waste collection service are sent for reuse or recycling through Electrolink. Collections are made by appointment, to arrange a free bulky waste collection, please contact Cleansing Services on 020 7606 3110 ext 2070.

Litter

Litter collected on the streets of the City of London is now being recycled. The Square Mile’s 100 street cleaners are using new double barrows to separate waste for recycling, such as plastic bottles and paper, as they collect it from the streets. The recycling of litter is part of the City’s 24-hour street cleaning programme. The City is thought to be the first place in the UK to recycle litter collected during the night. Currently 30% of night litter collections are recycled, which amounts to nearly three tonnes of recycling a week.

The City is now also recycling grit and small stones, collected by mechanical street sweeping vehicles, to be reused as sand and aggregates.

Schools Recycling

Work has been carried out with Sir John Cass Primary School, the City of London School for Boys and Girls and St Paul’s Choir School to encourage them to recycle within their schools. The schools are also served by a co-mingled recycling service.

Residual Waste

The majority of large developments have waste management facilities within the development from which waste is collected. Some smaller residential developments and individual premises do not have waste storage facilities. At these locations waste is usually collected from the kerbside on a daily basis from Monday to Friday. Residents are provided with white refuse sacks.

Commercial Waste and Recycling

The City provides commercial waste and recycling collections to businesses. Over 500 businesses are served by the councils recycling collection of:

• aerosols
• books
• cardboard
• drinks cartons
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper
• plastic bottles
• yellow pages

A range of different containment is available depending on the businesses needs.  These include commercial recycling sacks, 240 or 360 litre wheelie bins and 660 or 1100 litre Eurobins.  Frequency of collection varies from business to business ranging from weekly to daily.  For details of charges please contact 020 7606 3110 Ext 2354 The City of London. In addition, the City of London offer a confidential document shredding service to City businesses, where all paper collected is recycled.

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

Contact the City of London Address: Walbrook Wharf Upper Thames Street London EC4R 3TD Tel: 020 7606 3110 ext 2231 Email: recycling@cityoflondon.gov.uk Recycling Team: Tony Hammond (Recycling and Waste Strategy Officer) Katrina Moore (Recycling Support Officer) Sarah Clements (Sustainability and Marketing Officer)