• Kerbside Recycling
• Flat Recycling
• Bring Recycling
• Waste Minimisation
• Other Services
• Contact Information and Links

The service information presented for the London Borough of Greenwich was last updated in April 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

Greenwich Council offers a weekly kerbside recycling service to 71,000 households. Residents are provided with 240 litre blue topped wheelie bins or clear sacks. Material is collected co-mingled (mixed together) and is collected using a normal Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV). All the co-mingled recyclables collected are taken to the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), located next to the waste disposal site at Nathan Way, Thamesmead, for sorting. The Council received £1.5 million from the London Recycling Fund to build the MRF in partnership with Veolia Environmental Services. The following materials are accepted:

• aerosols
• aluminium foil
• cardboard
• glass bottles and jars
• mixed cans
• paper
• plastic bags
• plastic bottles
• Yellow Pages

Organics

Greenwich Council collects food (including meat) and green garden waste from 71,000 kerbside households. Residents are provided with a 240 litre green topped wheelie bin or cornstarch sacks which are collect weekly using a normal Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV). Residents can line their bin with newspaper to absorb moisture.

Blue toppped communal bins (1100 litre Eurobins) have been provided to estates and multi occupancy buildings in the borough. Approximate 30,000 households are served by the facilities.  These accept mixed dry recyclables:

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

There is one Reuse and Recycling Centre in Greenwich:

Nathan Way CA Site
Nathan Way
Thamesmead
London
SE28 OAN

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

Bring Sites

Greenwich has a network of 27 bring sites located across the borough. The following co-mingled material is collected using 1100 litre Eurobins:

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

Small electrical household items are collected using 1100 litre pink Eurobins and household batteries using blue bins mounted on poles at some sites.  Waxed food and beverage cartons are collected using 1100 litre black Eurobins at five pilot sites. Books, shoes and textiles are collected separately at various sites across the borough.

Home Composting

Greenwich Council has been offering all residents the opportunity to buy a home composter at a subsidised rate since 2000. Using a home composter allows residents to produce compost from all their green garden waste and vegetable peelings. To date 2,295 have been distributed. 220 litre bins are available for £30 or 330 litre bins for £35.

Junk Mail Reduction

Greenwich Council encourages residents to sign up to the Mailing Preference service to reduce junk mail. For more information visit www.mpsonline.org.uk or call 020 7291 3327.

Waste Exchange

Residents can offer unwanted household items on freecycle. For the Greenwich network visit:

http://www.freecycle.org/group/UK/London/Greenwich

Bulky Waste

The Council collects white goods and furniture via its Special Collections Service which enables residents to dispose of freestanding bulky household items.  There is a standard charge of £12 for up to 3 items and each additional item will be charged at £4.

Public Place Recycling

There are 125 public place recycling bins located in main town centres, shopping centres and outside of schools so that people can recycle when they are out and about. The following materials are collected co-mingled:

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

Residual Waste

Residual household waste is collected on a fortnightly basis from kerbside households using black refuse sacks.

Commercial Waste

Greenwich Council operates a commercial waste and recycling collection to businesses. Businesses can buy trade recycling bags (50 for  £75.20  and 100 for £138.06) to recycle the following materials:

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

Collections are daily or less frequent depending on the needs of the business.

Contact Greenwich Address: Waste Services Birchmere Depot Eastern Way Thamesmead SE28 8BF Tel: 020 8921 4661 Email: contact-centre@greenwich.gov.uk Recycling Team: Elaine Roberts (Diversions Manager)

Click here to view the summary report on the state of the environment in the London Borough of Greenwich prepared by the Environment Agency.