Weekly recycling collection (Orange sacks)

Where and when should I leave my orange sacks out for collection?

Please leave your orange sacks on the floor, just inside your property boundary nearest the pavement before 7am.

It is important that sacks are placed on the boundary of your property and not grouped together with other residents' waste and/or on grass verges, by a post or on the public highway (including footpaths).

Please do not leave sacks on top of walls or bins as this can lead to them snagging and spilling during collection and pose a safety hazard to our crew.

If you live in a flat please see our collections for flats page.

What goes in your orange sacks?

Mixed paper and card including newspapers, magazines, white paper, envelopes, junk mail and thick card
Plastic bottles - Please empty first and remove the lids
Food tins and drink cans - Please rinse first
Cardboard - Flattened and placed next to your orange sack if too big for the sack
Aerosol cans
Clean kitchen foil and clean foil trays

Please do not put any other waste in your orange sacks as these will contaminate them.

What can't go in the orange sacks?

Plastics other than plastic bottles. This includes yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, plastic trays or other packaging
Glass - Please take to recycling and bottle banks or Gerpins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre
Textiles and shoes - Please take to recycling and bottle banks, charity shops or Gerpins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre
General household waste - Please use black sacks or Gerpins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre
Green / garden waste - You can request a garden waste collection though or why not compost?
Milk / juice cartons (Tetrapaks). The combination of foil, plastic and cardboard means they are hard to recycle.
Batteries and electrical items - We can recycle batteries and small electrical items but please don't put them in the orange sack. Please put them in a separate bag.
Dirty foil/foil trays - These must be placed in black bags.

Not sure if something goes in your sack or you should be doing something else with it? Use our 'what item goes where' search facility to get information about what to do with your unwanted items.

What item goes where recycling and waste guide

If you are still struggling to recycle any of the above items that cannot be placed in the orange sacks, try not to produce these types of waste in the first place. See the Reducing Waste section for more information and advice.

Get extra recycling sacks

A roll of 16 orange sacks are delivered to each household every 13 weeks.

You can also recycle lots of items at recycling and bottle banks.

Extra orange sacks are available for households that require more (to be used for recycling only), and can be collected from, Romford, Hornchurch, Rainham, Harold Hill and Upminster libraries.

Alternatively you could ask a friend or neighbour if they have any leftover orange sacks.

Remember, you can fit more in your orange sacks if you crush down plastic bottles and tins before you put them in. Rinsing them out with water first also helps with recycling and means that you can keep the sacks longer without them starting to smell.