Last updated: 6 September 2023
Next review: 6 September 2024
Use the index below to find out what we pick up as part of your household bin collection service, and how you can get rid of the things we don’t collect from the kerbside. If you don't find what you are looking for please complete a Waste Enquiry form
- green recycling: should be placed your green wheelie bin, green communal recycling bin or green recycling sack (depending on the type of property you live in).
- food and garden waste: should be placed in your brown wheelie bin or communal food waste bin (food items only).
- black bin: is not recyclable and should be placed in your black wheelie bin, communal refuse bin or general refuse sacks.
Other items may be suitable for a large item collection or disposing of at a local waste and recycling centre.
This is for residential waste only. Businesses and landlords must use trade waste contractors.
A
- Aerosol: green recycling
- Aluminium cans and foil: green recycling
- Appliances: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Asbestos: cement bonded asbestos can be accepted at Hornsey Street HWRC in Islington. Asbestos must be pre-booked before being dropped off at the site.
B
- Batteries: placed inside a regular plastic or carrier bag left on top of your brown bin on your collection day. You can also take them to Waltham Forest libraries or to a local waste and recycling centre
- Beds: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Bike recycling: bikes can be taken to local waste and recycling centres or directly to our second time around shop at Kings Road Reuse and Recycling Centre
- Blister packs: recyclable at the Walthamstow 17&Central Superdrug Pharmacy under the Superdrug medicine packet recycling programme.
- Boiler: can be taken to local waste and recycling centre to dispose of or it can be collected through the 'Premium service' of the large item collection service
- Bones: brown food and garden waste
- Books: if in good condition take to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre
- Bottle tops: green recycling. Please unscrew and place in bin separately. Tops from milk, fizzy drinks, beer, wine are all accepted
- Bricks from domestic DIY only: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Broken glass: small amounts such as broken bottles or drinking glasses can be safely wrapped in newspaper and placed in your black refuse bin, otherwise take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Bubble wrap: Black bin
- Building materials (domestic only): take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Business waste: how to dispose of trade waste
C
- Car batteries or parts: take to local waste and recycling centre.
- Cardboard: green recycling
- Carpet/ underlay: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Carrier bags: green recycling
- Cat litter: black bin
- Cat poo: black bin
- CDs/DVDs: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Cassettes and videos: black bin
- Ceramics: if in good condition please take to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre
- Chemicals: hazardous waste, please arrange a hazardous waste collection
- Christmas trees: take to a local waste and recycling centre or if you have a kerbside brown bin collection, leave next to your brown bin on your collection day. You can also arrange a large item collection.
- Cling film: black bin
- Clinical waste: arrange a clinical waste collection
- Clothing: if in good condition please take to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre
- Coat hangers: take to a local charity shop for re-use
- Compostable coffee cup: Black bin please check individual company website for advice if the cup can be composted at home
- Computers: small computers take to a public electric recycling bank, larger computers take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Coffee cups: black bin
- Concrete domestic DIY only: please take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Cooking oil: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Creosote: can be collected by the City of London
- Crisp packets and sweet wrappers: black bin
- Crockery: if in good condition please take to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre
D
- Dead animals: report a dead animal
- Diesel: arrange a hazardous waste collection
- Disposable nappies: black bin
- DIY waste domestic only: please take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Dog poo: black bin
- Doors: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Drink cartons: green recycling
- DVDs/CDs/videos: take to a local waste and recycling centre
E
- Egg shells: brown food and garden waste
- Electric cables: take to a grey electrical bring bank or to a local waste and recycling centre
- Electrical items (small): take to a grey electrical bring bank or to a local waste and recycling centre or if you have brown wheeled bins place these items in a carrier bag on top of the wheeled bins to be collected by the collection crew
- Electrical items (large): arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Energy saving light bulbs: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Engine oil: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Envelopes: green recycling (with plastic windows torn out)
F
- Face masks: black bin
- Fibreglass loft insulation: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Fish: brown food and garden waste
- Fish tank: if in good condition please to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre
- Flowers: brown food and garden waste
- Fluorescent light tubes: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Foil: green recycling
- Food waste: brown food and garden waste
- Food and drink cartons: green recycling
- Fridge / freezers: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Fruit net packaging: black bin
- Frying pans: if in good condition take to a charity shop, if not, place in your black bin or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Furniture: arrange a large item collection for this item
G
- Garden chemicals: arrange a hazardous waste collection
- Garden waste: brown food and garden waste
- Gas bottles: take to a local waste and recycling centre
(Contact the manufacturer first to see if they are able to take back the item for refilling or disposal. One gas bottle up to 15kg in size, either propane or butane will be accepted per resident at the site.) - Glass bottles and jars: green recycling
- Gloves (rubber): black bin
- Grass: brown food and garden waste
H
- Hardcore and rubble: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Hay: brown food and garden waste
- Hedge trimmings: brown food and garden waste
- Household batteries: placed inside a regular plastic or carrier bag left on top of your brown bin on your collection day. You can also take them to Waltham Forest libraries or to a local waste and recycling centre
- Household chemicals: arrange a hazardous waste collection
I
- Incontinence pads: black bin, double bagged, to reduce spillage
J
- Japanese Knotweed: or any soil that has been near Japanese knotweed must not be place any of our bins. Please read advice from the Environment Agency on how to dispose of Japanese knotweed safely and legally
K
- Kitchen Towel Roll: black bin
L
- Leaves: brown food and garden waste
- Light bulbs: if they are energy saving take them to your local waste and recycling centre. If they are ordinary bulbs please dispose of them in the black bin
M
- Mattress: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Metal: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Microwaves: arrange an electrical item collection take the item to one of the 3 reuse and recycling centres in the borough
- Mirrors: if in good condition please take them to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre
- Mobile phones: can be placed in a local grey electrical recycling bank or taken to a local waste and recycling centre
- Monitors: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
N
- Nappies (disposable): black bin. To switch to reusable, washable cloth nappies visit Real Nappies for London and claim your free voucher worth £54.15.
- Nappies (eco/biodegradable): black bin. These cannot be composted in your brown bin. To switch to reusable, washable cloth nappies visit Real Nappies for London and claim your free voucher worth £54.15.
- Needles: arrange a clinical waste collection
O
- Oil: take to a local waste and recycling centre
P
- Paint: take to a local waste and recycling centre so that it can be reused via the Forest Recycling Project. Leftover paint is also available for residents to take away for free from waste and recycling centres in the brought.
- Paint stripper: arrange a hazardous waste collection
- Paper: green recycling
- Paper Towels: black bin
- Paraffin: arrange a hazardous waste collection
- Paving stones (domestic DIY only): take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Pesticides: arrange a hazardous waste collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Pet food pouches: black bin
- Petrol: arrange a hazardous waste collection
- Phones: can be placed in a local grey electrical recycling bank or taken to a local waste and recycling centre
- Photographs: black bin
- Pizza Boxes: if greasy or stained with foods then it must be placed in the black bin. Otherwise it is green recycling.
- Plants (small): brown food and garden waste
- Plant Pots: local waste and recycling centre or black bin
- Plasterboard: local waste and recycling centre
- Plastic food packaging: Plastic bags which hold things like bread, potatoes or salad cannot be recycled at home. Please put them in your general waste, or take them to a collection point at the larger stores of most major supermarkets. Collection point locator
- Plastic bags and magazine wrapping: recyclable items (except black plastic bags)
- Plastic bottles: green recycling
- Plastic cups and straws: green recycling:
- Plastic drinks packaging: green recycling
- Plastic lids: please unscrew and place in the green recycling
- Polystyrene and foam: black bin
- Pots and pans: if in good condition please take to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre, or put in your black bin
- Printers: local waste and recycling centre
- Printer cartridges: local waste and recycling centre
- Prunings: brown food and garden waste
R
- Rubble / hardcore: local waste and recycling centre
S
- Sanitary towels: black bin, double bagged, to reduce spillage
- Sanitiser (hand sanitiser- plastic bottle): green recycling
- Scrap metal: local waste and recycling centre
- Sharps: arrange a clinical waste collection
- Shelves: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Shredded paper: green recycling
- Sofa / suite: arrange a large item collection
- Soil: take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Suitcase: if in good condition please to a charity shop or a local waste and recycling centre
T
- Tetra Pak: green recycling
- Textiles and shoes: local textiles recycling bank or take to a local waste and recycling centre or if you have two wheeled bins place these items in a carrier bag on top of the two wheeled bins to be collected by the collection crew
- Tins, cans and foil: green recycling
- Timber: local waste and recycling centre
- Tins (biscuits/sweets): green recycling
- Tissues: black bin
- Trade waste: how to dispose of trade waste
- Trimmings: brown food and garden waste
- Trigger Sprays: green recycling, please separate in to 2 parts if possible
- TVs: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Twigs: brown food and garden waste
- Tyres: try your local garage (they will sometimes dispose for a small fee) or take to a local waste and recycling centre
U
- Underlay / carpet: local waste and recycling centre
V
- Vacuum cleaner: if in good condition please take to a charity shop, arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Vapes: Vapes cannot go in your rubbish or recycling bin. Like anything with a battery, cable or plug, vapes can and should be recycled. This is the same for all single-use vapes, rechargeable vapes and those that are rechargeable with a single-use chamber. You can recycle vapes at any north London reuse and recycling centre or use a take back-scheme. Refer to this Vape Recycling Guide for further advice
- Vegware: black bin or check with the individual company website for advice if the vegware can be composted at home
- Videos/DVDs/CDs: local waste and recycling centre
W
- Wardrobes: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Waste: enquiry
- Weeds: brown food and garden waste
- White goods: arrange a large item collection or take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Wood (from trees): brown food and garden waste
- Wood (treated wood) - take to a local waste and recycling centre
- Wood shavings: brown food and garden waste
More information
If we haven't listed an item you want to get rid of, try the Wise up to Waste A to Z.
You may also be able to take reusable items to a charity shop or list them with the Waltham Forest Freecycle group.