What goes in your bin

Orange bins - recycling

Orange sacks are no longer available to collect from Council premises. 

Please compact your recycling: crush, squish, stomp on, tear up and make smaller anything you can to fit more into your recycling bin – the more space you save, the more recycling you can fit in.

If the orange lidded bin is full before collection, you can put out extra recycling next to the orange bin in a clear or white ‘see through’ sack, so it does not blow away, and this will be collected. 

Please flat pack large cardboard boxes and place out no earlier than the day of collection, as wet cardboard cannot be recycled. 

If you have a large amount of cardboard packaging, please take it to the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Bedford. 

Any recycling put out in black bags will not be collected.

If you need assistance with your recycling, please contact recycling@bedford.gov.uk or 01234 718060.

Image

What you can put in your recycling bins or sacks

• Paper, cardboard and cartons.
• Metal packaging including tins, cans, foil and aerosols.
• Plastic food and drink packaging including bottles, pots, tubs, and trays and household cleaning/toiletry plastic bottles/containers (not including flexible plastics such as bags, wrapping or film or hard plastics such as toys and garden furniture).

Please wash dirty food and drink containers, squash items to save space, and place items loose in the bin.

Find out more with the Recycle Now tool

You can use the Recycling Locator tool below to find out if you can recycle specific items at home, or where to recycle it in your local area. 

Green bins - garden waste

Image

What you can put in your garden waste bin

• grass cutting, plants and weeds
• flowers, prunings, hedge clippings
• leaves and bark
• vase plants and pond plants

What you can’t include in your garden waste bin

• soil and rubble
• vegetable peelings and kitchen waste
• plastic bags, plant pots and polystyrene trays
• animal bedding and pet waste
• general household waste
• persistent and noxious weeds (Ragwort, Japanese Knotweed, Spear Thistle, Creeping Thistle, Broad Leaf Dock, Curled Dock)
• fake plants

Alternatively you may wish to consider purchasing a home composter or take your garden waste to a household waste recycling centre.

Black bins - general waste

Image

What you can put in your black bin

Black lidded bins are for your non-recyclable household waste only, including food waste.

What you can’t put in your black bin

• uncontained liquid waste
• commercial/business waste
• tyres
• waste electrical and electronic equipment
• paint
• soil 

Many items can be taken to the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Barkers Lane.

If you have clinical waste such as diabetic sharps, this must be disposed of using our specialist clinical and hazardous collection service.

Battery recycling

Most shops that sell batteries are obligated to prove free battery collection points in their stores, usually at the tills or near customer services. We also collect used household batteries as part of our ongoing efforts to increase recycling rates.

1. Put your used batteries in a small, clear plastic bag and seal it when full.
2. Place the sealed bag on top of your black or orange lidded bin or sacks on your normal day of collection.

Which type of batteries can be recycled

• 6V
• D
• C
• AA
• AAA
• 9V
• Button

We cannot accept car or other industrial batteries as part of this scheme.

Waste and recycling policy statements

Our waste and recycling policy statements (PDF) set out our approach to the collection of waste within Bedford Borough.