Waste Collection and Recycling in Canterbury
Waste collections: how the service works

Canterbury operates a bi-weekly household waste and recycling collection system.  Below are Canterbury City Councils guidelines. 
Please read them carefully and follow all instructions.

Recyclables in clear sacks will be collected every two weeks.

More clear sacks will be issued to each household (quarterly throughout the year, if you run out you can collect more, for free, from the council offices on Military Road).

Garden waste will be collected every two weeks from your green-lidded wheelie bin.

Landfill waste (any non-recyclable materials) will be collected every two weeks (on the week clear sacks and garden waste isn't collected).

All collections will take place on the same day of the week.

Households who have a small 140 litre wheelie bin for landfill waste may exchange this for a larger 240 litre wheelie bin (from February 2005). Please check your recycling calendar.

No property will wait for more than 16 days for a collection of recyclables or landfill waste over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Garden waste will be collected all year round, with the exception of two winter months (January and February).

To find out what day your waste and recycling is collected go to www.canterbury.gov.uk/rubbish.php and type in your postcode.

Assisted collections will be available to the people who need them. To find out if you can get assisted collection, phone the recycling team on 01227 862 211 or e-mail recycling@canterbury.gov.uk

Canterbury City Council have issued the following guidelines for recycling.  Please read them carefully.  If you do not recycle, you will not have room in your black wheelie bin for two weeks waste.  The Council do not collect black bin bags left beside the wheelie bin.

Paper - newspapers, magazines, envelopes, the phone book, Yellow Pages, printer paper (make sure you re-use paper by using the underside for scrap), paper bags, leaflets.

Packaging boxes, pizza or food boxes (make sure all food traces are removed), ready meals sleeves, occasion cards.

Large cardboard boxes must be flattened and put by the side of your recycling sacks.  Please tie with string if there are lots.

Drinks bottles, milk bottles, margarine tubs, yogurt pots, ready meal trays, cleaning fluid bottles (for example: detergents), clean shampoo bottles, washing-up bottles.

Only recycle plastic with the following numbers: 1,2,4, 5 marked on the lid or base.

Aluminium drinks cans, steel drinks cans, household aerosols (for example: furniture polish), food tins (rinsed) and foil.

All of the materials may go into the same bag and you can use as many bags as you need. Once collected, recyclables are sorted out into material types at the Materials Recycling Facility at Hersden.

Any clear sack found to contain non-recyclable waste will not be collected.