Recycling from home

Did you know that 45 per cent of your household rubbish can easily be recycled?

As a Lambeth Resident all you have to do is put your food and drink cartons, catalogues, brochures, plastic bottles, glass, tins and cardboard into your free orange recycling bag and place them outside on your normal day of collection.

Housing estate tenants can also place recyclable materials in the green recycling bins (which are usually located where you put your household rubbish).

Recycling from houses

If your rubbish is collected from outside your property in a dustbin or black sack, you can also have your recycling collected in an orange sack and/or green box.

We will deliver bundles of 30 orange sacks to you every four months. See extra orange sacks for how to get more.

Please leave your orange sacks and/or green box at the inside edge of your property by 6.30am on collection day, so they are clearly visible for our recycling collectors.

If you have no frontage to your property, please leave the sacks and/or green box on the pavement – no earlier than 6pm on the day before your collection.

We collect recycling on the same day as we do your rubbish - see when are the recycling collections?

You can also take your recycling to  one of our recycling banks.

Recycling on estates

If you live on a council-owned estate we have where possible, placed green recycling banks near the entrance of each block. These take all the materials listed below in the same bank.

You can collect items for recycling at home and take them regularly to the banks, which will be emptied by our estates collection crews.

We already provide recycling banks to a number of non-council estates. If you don't have a recycling bank on your estate and are interested in having recycling facilities installed, call 020 7926 9000 or email recycling@lambeth.gov.uk for more information.

What can I recycle from home?

Paper and cardboard

All paper, cardboard, catalogues, directories and Yellow Pages. We now also accept food and drink cartons including Tetra Pak.
(please flatten all boxes)

Glass bottles and jars

All glass bottles and jars (please rinse and remove lids). No broken glass please.

Cans and tins

All drinks and food cans and aerosols (please rinse tins and ensure aerosols are empty)

Plastic bottles

Plastic bottles only (please rinse and remove lids). Please note that no other types of plastic can currently be collected, for example, margarine tubs, yoghurt pots or any other types of plastic food containers.

What can’t I recycle from home?

• No yoghurt pots, margarine tubs or other plastic food containers (bottles only)
• No plastic bags
• No bottle caps or jar lids  
• No broken glass, Pyrex, or window glass
• No kitchen food scraps or garden waste (see garden waste)
• No foil, milk bottle tops or yoghurt pot lids
• No chemical containers or batteries (see reuse and recycling centres)
• No soil or rubble
• No clothes, shoes or other textiles (see recycling and disposal sites)
• No paint (see recycling schemes)

When are the recycling collections?

If you're unsure when your collection day is, please download one of the following documents, call 020 7926 9000 or email recycling@lambeth.gov.uk.

Streets: A-B, C-D, E-H, I-L, M-Q, R-S, T-Y

If your share a communal bin the schedule information is not yet available on the web site, please contact Streetcare@lambeth.gov.uk for more information.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The documents only cover wheelie bin and orange sack/green box collections. If your refuse is collected from bulk bins or your recycling is collected from containers, please contact us on 0207 926 9000 or email recycling@lambeth.gov.uk.

Collection days may be changed around Christmas day and New Year's day. Details of any changes will be posted on this site. Collection days are not changed around other public/bank holidays.

Extra orange sacks

A roll of orange sacks will be delivered to your door every four months.

If you run out before your next delivery, you can call to order sacks on 020 7926 9000 or complete the recycling request form.

Alternatively you can pick up a roll of sacks from any of the locations below:

• Any Lambeth library
• 2nd Floor Blue Star House
• Hambrook House, Porden Road
• Brixton Customer Centre, 18 Brixton Hill
• Hopton House, 243a Streatham High Road

You can view a map of our main public buildings.

Missed collection

To report a missed recycling collection, please call 020 7926 9000 or fill in the missed refuse collection form.

It is important that the orange sacks only contain items that we can recycle. Sacks which contain the wrong items can result in the processing plant rejecting the entire load. In order to prevent this, our staff may place a sticker on any bag which they believe contain the wrong materials. If your bag is not collected, check whether it has been stickered. The sticker will indicate the reason for the non collection. If you remove the contamination from the bag and present the bag for collection on your next collection day the material will be collected and recycled.

Storing your recycling between collection days

Store your recycling in the most convenient location for you - either inside the house or in the back garden, if you have one. Please try to keep your recycling dry if possible. All households are different and any of the following solutions could apply to you:

• For outside storage - place the orange sack in a container with a lid to keep it dry
• For inside storage - store loose in the green box, cardboard box or other container and rinse materials to avoid any odour. Put these in the sack before your collection and place outside
• Purchase a recycling bin from either Natural Collection by calling 08703 313 333 or visiting the Natural Collection website, or from Straight Initiatives by calling 0113 245 2244 or visiting the Straight Initiatives website, or from your local hardware or DIY store.

Department stores, Ikea, the Lakeland catalogue and other shops may also offer storage solutions.

Why is my recycling all mixed together?

You may wonder why all of your recycling can be collected all mixed up together. This is because our recycling collection service is now what we call 'co-mingled'.

All your recycling goes to the Western Riverside Waste Authority in Wandsworth. From there it is taken to a recycling centre where all the materials are sorted using the latest technology. Finally, all your recycling is sent on to be made in to a range of new products.

Our service standards

• We deliver orange sacks to you every four months.
• We provide extra orange sacks on request to residents.
• We put right missed collections within 24 hours of being notified.