Bins and recycling collections

We offer kerbside waste and recycling collections for most household items.

You will need to put your bin out at the point nearest to the public highway where the collection vehicle stops, such as the end of a path or driveway where it joins the public highway. This could be the pavement or road.

Your bin needs to be presented by 6am on collection day.

Check your collection day

We provide a free assisted bin collection service if you need help.

Help with taking your bins out

What to put in your bins

Display your property name/number on your bin. We can send you stickers for your bins.

General waste bin (black/grey)

Only use your general waste bin for anything that can’t be put in your recycling containers. Your household waste should be placed in bags and put inside the bin with the lid closed. We do not collect extra bags on top of or near your bin.

Please do not put the following in your general waste bin:

• Soil, rubble, wood, or DIY waste including paint and related liquids, these items should be taken to the Household Waste Recycling Centre
• Garden waste, you can dispose of garden waste via our garden waste collection service or should be taken to the Household Waste Recycling Centre
• Glass bottles or jars, these should be put in your green glass box or red glass bin, or taken to a glass bank

If you live in a flat/maisonette and share waste and recycling bins, you will have a communal bin for waste, which will be emptied every week.

Recycling bin (green)

Recycling must be clean, dry and loose in your bin and not in any type of plastic bag. Only use your recycling bin for:

• paper and cardboard (no shredded paper, gift wrap or yellow pages)
• plastic bottles (no other plastic)
• cans and tins
• aerosols

For large cardboard boxes that won’t fit in your recycling bin please flatten them and put it next to your recycling bin in dry weather (max size 1m x 1m) or recycle them at the tip.

If you live in a flat/maisonette and share waste and recycling bins, you will have a communal bin for recycling, which will be emptied every fortnight on the same day as the recycling bins.

Glass box (green) or bin (red)

Empty, rinse and dry all glass bottles and jars and place lids back on. Please do not use for drinking glasses, light bulbs, pyrex, broken glass and other similar items (please wrap these items and place in your black/grey bin).

Please do not over fill your box, it causes dangerous spillages and becomes too heavy for our crews to empty safely.

If you live in a flat/maisonette and share waste and recycling bins, you will have a communal bin for glass, which will be emptied on the same day as the recycling bins.

Find out more about your glass recycling

Garden waste bin (brown)

We collect garden waste as a paid for subscription service. There are 25 fortnightly collections of garden waste per year.

Find out more about garden waste

Healthcare waste - sacks (orange) or sharps box (yellow)

We provide a dedicated service for healthcare waste for those with ongoing treatment or post-operative care.

Sharps boxes and Clinical waste collections

This is a free service to collect clinical waste and sharp instruments and dispose of these safely. Healthcare waste must not be put in with normal household waste (black/grey bin).

What healthcare items we collect

• Sharp instruments - we provide yellow sharps boxes for items such as needles and scalpels
• Clinical waste - we provide orange sacks for infectious or potentially infectious soft clinical waste contaminated with blood/bodily fluids - these include dressings, swabs, wipes gloves, gowns, masks, aprons and blood bags.

To access this service your GP or other healthcare professional will have a Clinical Waste Referral Form which they must submit to us and then we will contact you to let you know what to do. The form to be completed by a GP or other healthcare professional can be downloaded below:

Clinical waste referral form (to be completed by a healthcare professional)

If you do not have enough space in your waste bin due to incontinence waste please fill in an additional capacity form as you may be entitled to use an extra bin.

If you would like to book a collection, and you have provided an approved healthcare waste referral form, please contact us using the form link below.

Book a clinical waste collection

Food waste caddies (indoor silver/outdoor green)

Please line your indoor caddy. You can recycle all of your food waste including:

• vegetables and fruit including peelings, cores and stones
• raw and cooked meat and bones
• tea and coffee bags and coffee grounds
• dairy products and cheese
• eggshells
• raw and cooked fish bones and shells
• bread, cakes and pastries
• cooked and uncooked rice, pasta and beans
• wet and dry pet food

Please do not put these items into your food waste caddies or shared communal food waste bins:

• any liquids including milk, oils, fats, custard, cream and gravy
• packaging: put your pots, tubs, trays and similar packaging in your waste bin as normal. Put all clean plastic bottles, tins, cans, paper and cardboard in your green recycling bin
• nappies
• clinical waste
• cat litter, dog poo or other pet waste
• garden waste and cut flowers
• other material that is not food waste

You can also recycle or dispose of many household items, garden waste and building material at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (the tip).

Apply for a larger general waste bin

If your household is making every effort to reduce waste and you are recycling everything you can, you can apply for a larger, or a second, black/grey waste bin if you need extra capacity.

Apply for a larger waste bin

The standard allocation for households across the borough is one waste bin, one recycling bin, one glass crate and one food waste caddy.

What happens to your waste and recycling

After collection, all waste from Basingstoke and Deane is taken to the Chineham Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) and recycling is taken to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) where it is sorted.

Find out what happens to your waste and recycling after it has been collected