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Find your nearest local recycling site

There are lots of places across Bedford Borough where you can recycle items. If you are unsure about an item - or it is one of those tricky things that often feels difficult to recycle – use the Recycle Now Recycling Locator to check what to do with it and find your nearest recycling point.

You can also use our online maps to find local glass banks and some third-party textile banks, choose the “recycling sites” layer from the menu to find your nearest site. The menu can be found to the top left on a computer or laptop and at the bottom on a mobile phone or tablet.

Recycle at home and save a trip

Use your orange-lidded recycling bin at home for your usual recycling.

  • Glass bottles and jars are accepted in your orange-lidded recycling bin. Put it in loose as mixed recycling, with metal lids left on, but remove corks and plastic lids and recycle those elsewhere or put them in your general waste if they cannot be recycled locally.
  • Paper and card should be clean and dry. Pizza boxes can be split if one half is greasy, with the clean half going in your orange-lidded bin and the greasy half going in your black bin.
  • Metal packaging, such as tins, cans, foil and aerosols, can be recycled, please give them a quick rinse if needed.
  • Plastic food and drink packaging, such as bottles, pots, tubs and trays can be recycled, again, give them a quick rinse if needed.
  • Textile banks are now for high-quality clothing only, such as clean and reusable items. Lower-quality fast fashion items should be reused or resold, donated if suitable, or disposed of through the most appropriate waste route.
  • Only reusable shoes should go to textile recycling where accepted. If they are worn out or poor quality, they should go in your black bin.

Learn more about what goes in your bins 

Remember that extra recycling can be taken to the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Barkers Lane in Bedford. 

If your orange-lidded bin is regularly full, and you have considered all options to reduce the recycling you produce, you can apply for extra capacity.

Report a full or overflowing recycling bank

Please tell us if any glass bank is full or overflowing so we can arrange emptying. Email recycling@bedford.gov.uk and include the site location, including the road name.

Be aware that textile banks are run by a third party and will have contact details on the bank itself to report if it is full - report this directly to the bank owner.

Location Road Postcode Glass Textiles
Avon Drive Shops Avon Drive MK41 7AF Yes No
Carron Road car park Carron Road MK41 7YA Yes Yes
Brickhill Drive Shops Brickhill Drive MK41 7QF Yes No
Woodlands Park car park Ashmead Road MK41 7GA Yes No
Bus Station  Greenhill Street MK40 1LX Yes No 
Opposite Lidl car park Howard Street  MK40 3HS Yes No
Prebend Street car park Prebend Street MK42 9AP Yes No
Bunyan Centre  Mile Road MK42 9TS Yes No
Morrisons Ampthill Road MK42 9JP Yes Yes
St Peters Street car park St Peters Street / Goldington Road  MK40 3LH Yes No
Robinson Pool car park Foster Hill Road MK40 2JZ Yes No
Church Lane shops  Church Lane MK41 0PW Yes Yes
Library Walk car park Library Walk  MK41 8HF Yes No
Tesco Cardington Road MK42 0BG Yes No
Priory Country Park  Barkers Lane MK41 9SH Yes No
Tesco  Riverfield Drive MK41 0SE Yes No
HWRC Barkers Lane MK41 9SB Yes Yes
Mowsbury Park car park  Wentworth Drive MK41 8QB Yes No
Mowsbury Park car park  Kimbolton Road MK41 8AH Yes No
Old Ford End Road Old Ford End Road MK40 4JU Yes No

Kempston locations

Location Road Postcode Glass Textiles
Southfields Centre  Southfields Road MK42 7NR Yes Yes
Hillgrounds Road Playing Fields car park Hillgrounds Road  MK42 8TP Yes No
Saxon Centre  Bedford Road MK42 8PP Yes No
St Johns Street car park St Johns Street MK42 8EP Yes No
Lidl, Ridge Road Off Martell Drive MK42 7LZ Yes No

Village locations

Village Location Road Postcode Glass Textiles
Biddenham  Bentley Grange  St James Way  MK40 4UH Yes No
Biddenham Three Tuns public house Main Road MK40 4BD No Yes
Cople Five Bells public house  Northill Road MK44 3TU Yes No
Cotton End The Bell public house  Bell Lane MK45 3AD Yes Yes
Elstow Park and Ride Progress Park MK42 9XF Yes No
Great Denham Car park next to village green bus stop Kingswood Way MK40 4GR Yes No
Lt. Staughton Top End Farm Colmworth Road MK44 2BY Yes No
Milton Ernest Garden Centre Radwell Road MK44 1SH Yes No
New Cardington Beauvais Square Rochester Way MK42 0GE Yes No
Ravensden Ravensden corner shop Old Ways Road MK44 2RF No Yes
Riseley Riseley Village Hall Gold Street MK44 1EG Yes No
Sharnbrook A6 northbound lay-by North of Mill Road MK44 1PX Yes No
Shortstown Newton Street car park Newton Street MK42 0TG Yes No
Shortstown Skate Park, Shortstown Village Hall car park Southcote Road MK42 0QL Yes No
Stevington Langcroft Farm lay-by  Off Court Lane MK43 7QS Yes No
Stewartby Co-op car park Clay Avenue / Kiln Drive MK43 9SU Yes No
Stewartby Village Hall parking Stewartby Way MK43 9LJ Yes No 
Turvey Picts Hill lay-by Bedford Road MK43 8BS Yes Yes 
Upper Dean Three Compasses public house Upper Dean PE28 0NE Yes No
Wilstead Lay-by near Duck End Bedford Road MK45 3HP Yes Yes
Wixams Lakeview School car park School Lane MK42 6BH Yes No
Wootton Recreation ground / Village Hall car park Church Road MK43 9HT Yes No
Wootton Sainsbury's car park  Folkes Road MK43 9TE Yes No 

Commercial waste

You must not put business waste into resident recycling banks. We offer commercial waste and recycling services, including general waste and mixed recycling collections, plus tailored support for businesses.

If you are a business, or a contractor, please contact our Commercial Services team for the right waste and recycling solution. 

You can ask for a quote using our online form or email CommercialServices@bedford.gov.uk

Recycle Now Recycling Locator

You can also use the Recycle Now Recycling Locator below to check whether an item can be recycled at home or to find your nearest recycling point.

Recycling Locator

Related content

Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC)
What goes in your bin