You are here:

  1. Home
  2. Services
  3. Rubbish and recycling
  4. Household rubbish and recycling collections
  5. Arrange a resident's large item collection or clearance

Arrange a resident's large item collection or clearance

Collecting Council rubbish

If you don’t need a bulky household item, like a sofa or a washing machine, you can arrange to have it taken away. Alternatively, you can drop it off at a waste and recycling centre. 

If you have a lot of waste, you can arrange for us to clear it for you, by our house and garden clearance service.

The tables below show your options.

Council services

Please note, we'll dispose of these items as rubbish. If you'd like your items to be recycled, please see our recycling partners section below. 

Items Cost Collected? Booking

Large items (such as furniture)

must be non-electrical

can be in any condition

 

 

Free (up to 5 items)

Yes
  • check your items are on our list of suitable items below
  • you will need to log in, or sign up, to My Account first

Book a large item collection >
Large electrical items ('white goods') Charged. Cost depends on the number of items Yes
  • check item sizes and pricing from the section below
  • have your credit or debit card ready to pay

Pay for white goods collection >

We’ll send you an email confirming your payment.

We’ll send you another email, within one working day, confirming your collection date and time. 
House/ garden clearance

(for mixed, or multiple items)

 Charged. Cost depends on the work involved Yes Visit our Waltham Forest servicestore website and complete the online booking form

Our recycling partners' services

Items Cost Collected? Booking
Furniture in good condition (for re-use) Free Yes - by Bright Sparks
  • every Wednesday and Saturday 
 Book a collection with Bright Sparks
Large electrical items  Free Yes - by Clearabee Book a collection with Clearbee, or call them on 0330 088 1085
Large electrical items Free No - please drop them off Drop off to any of the three waste and recycling centres in the borough 
Small electrical items (less than 52cm x 52cm, such as kettles, phones, toasters) Free No - please drop them off Drop off to any of the small, grey electrical recycling banks around the borough

For specific guidance on disposing of large items (‘bulky waste’) see Bulky Waste Guidance: Definitions (170KB PDF)

What we collect: non-electrical items Click to get info

Our waste collection team will collect up to five items from this list free of charge:

  • armchair
  • bath
  • bathroom sink
  • bed
  • bicycle
  • bookcase
  • carpets/ carpet tiles
  • chair
  • chest of drawers
  • Christmas tree
  • cupboard
  • desk
  • door (internal only, no glass)
  • dressing table
  • exercise equipment (non-electric)
  • garden table/ chair/ bench (remove glass)
  • kitchen sink
  • lino
  • mattress
  • mower/ strimmer (non-electric)
  • rug
  • settee/ sofa
  • shelving
  • shower basin
  • sideboard
  • stool
  • table
  • TV stand
  • toilet
  • wardrobe

If your item isn't on this list, please see our A to Z of waste and recycling items to find out what to do with it.

On collection day

On collection day, please leave your item(s) outside by 6am, as close as possible to the front of your property.

If you live above a shop, please put your items outside the night before.

Please note, collection crew can't enter your property to take your items.

If you need further help, contact us at wfdirect@walthamforest.gov.uk

What we collect: electrical items (white goods) Click to get info

Our Waltham Forest servicestore collection team can collect your unwanted large electricals (‘white goods’) for a fee.

Large electrical items we collect:

  • air conditioners
  • clothes dryers
  • cookers
  • dishwashers
  • freezers
  • fridges
  • microwaves
  • washing machines

If your item isn't on this list, please see our A to Z of waste and recycling items to find out what to do with it. Or you can try our recycling partners (in the second table above).

Fees

We can only collect up to three items in one go. Oversized items count as two.

  • £26 for one standard size item
  • £37 for two standard size items
  • £37 for one oversize item
  • £47 for three standard size items
  • £47 for one oversize and one standard item

Sizing

  • standard items - are too large to fit easily in a car, but less than a one cubic yard in volume (0.765 cubic meters)
  • oversized items - are anything larger than this

On collection day

Your items must be ready at 8.30am. If they're being collected from inside, please make sure you’re in when we arrive and that the appliance is disconnected.

Cancel a large item collection Click to get info

You can change or cancel a booking you've made with us.

For non-electrical items - log in, or sign up, to My Account. You can change or cancel your booking from there.

For electrical items - please respond to the confirmation email you received.

You must give two working days’ notice.

Report a missed large item collection Click to get info

If your item hasn't been collected on the day we said we said we would collect it, please wait one day. If it still hasn't been collected, you can report it as a missed collection.

For non-electrical items - log in, or sign up, to My Account and report it as a missed collection. If there's a reason why we couldn't pick it up, you'll find this information in your booking. 

For electrical items - please respond to the confirmation email you received.