Get the most out of your service:
- There is no limit to the number of pink sacks of recycling you can put out on your recycling collection day. You can recycle paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and plastic packaging, tins, cans and aerosol cans and beverage cartons in the pink sacks. Please ensure that all containers are empty of food residue. If you put the wrong items in the sack or box or use them for other purposes such as refuse or garden waste - they will not be collected
- Present cardboard inside your pink sack to keep it dry. Wet cardboard is not recyclable.
- Use your food bin for your food waste which we will take for specialised processing instead of it going to landfill. Make sure you remove all packaging and only put the right things in your food bin or we will not be empty it
- Use your kerbside box for glass bottles and jars, please rinse out any food residue
- If you have a garden waste collection service, use your green bin* for your garden waste which we will take for composting
- Only use your grey wheeled bin for waste that cannot be recycled or composted
- Additional bags, sacks and items of waste placed alongside the bins will not be collected as our vehicles are designed to empty bins only. Please ensure that you put the right things in each of your bins and that the bin lids are closed
- Put your bin(s) and/or pink sacks of recycling out at your collection point by 7am on your scheduled collection days but no earlier than the evening before. Between collections, your bins and pink sacks must be kept within the boundary of your property
- Use your local recycling centre
What we provide:
Containers:
Most households in Maldon District (except flats/multi-occupancy dwellings) are provided with:
- rolls of pink sacks for the collection of clean, empty materials for recycling. 3 rolls are delivered annually during the summer and further supplies can be picked up from various sites through the District
- a kerbside box for the collection of glass bottles and jars for recycling
- a food bin for the collection of food waste for specialised processing
- a grey wheeled bin for the collection of general domestic waste that cannot be recycled or composted
Households assessed as not suitable for wheeled bins are provided with 2 rolls of black sacks annually.
A green wheeled bin* for the collection of green garden waste for composting is available on subscription.
33 local recycling centres are available
Collections:
- Food waste is collected weekly
- Refuse and recycling sacks/boxes are collected on alternate weeks i.e. first week refuse bin, second week recycling sacks and kerbside box
- Garden waste is collected weekly from March - November and fortnightly from December to February - this is a chargeable service *. The Council may suspend garden waste collections over the Christmas and New year period. In this instance residents will receive an extra collection in February.
- Bins and pink sacks are collected from the front boundary of each property, (or agreed collection point agreed) on an alternate weekly rota according to the collection calendar. (appropriate for each area of the District)
- Our collection crews start their collections at 7am each day. It is important that your refuse bin or recycling sacks/kerbside box and food bin is presented for collection before this but no earlier than the evening before.
- In bad weather, our crews work hard to complete their collections. Please leave your bin(s)/pink sacks out until our crews have been able to collect. Updates on any collection disruption are regularly provided on the website
Properties exempt from bins
Only the Council can grant exemptions. Exemptions will usually meet one of the following criteria:
- Properties with no access - if a property has no rear access, and no accessible land physically capable of accommodating a wheeled bin. This is either at the front, side or rear of the property, or anywhere else within its curtilage. An example is where the property has no rear access, fronts directly onto the pavement/highway and has no side access
- Multiple Steps - Consideration should also be given to those where there are multiple steps to negotiate to put the bins out for collection
- Properties on a steep hill - If the property is on a steep hill and collections cannot be made safely on the boundary of the property, consideration will be given to providing an assisted lift. This is where the bin will be collected from an agreed point within the curtilage of the property. These properties may be individually assessed and, if necessary, will be offered black sack refuse collections on a fortnightly basis. These will be collected on the same day as grey wheeled bins in that area. In these cases, black sacks of refuse should be placed out for collection at the designated collection point on the day shown on the relevant collection calendar. The number of black sacks collected from these properties will be limited to 4 per property per collection
Communications:
Collection calendars and information leaflets are regularly sent out to residents to let them know the collection dates and what items can be collected. Information and updates are also provided on the website and in the local press as appropriate. Calendars and leaflets are also available on request. Further information and advice can be obtained by calling our Customer Service Centre on 01621 854477 or by using our contact form
Supply of pink sacks & replacement bins:
Additional rolls of pink sacks can be made can collected from the Council offices and various locations throughout the District.
Requests for replacing broken bins can be made via the website. Replacement bins are normally delivered within 5 working days and refuse bins & recycling containers are provided free of charge. There is a charge for replacement garden waste wheeled bins.
Missed collections
All missed bin calls must be made within 48 hours of your scheduled collection day (refuse, recycling, food waste and garden waste).
If your collection is missed and your bin/sack was presented at 7am and was not contaminated, we will send the crew back to collect within 3 working days of receiving your report.
Special services:
Help with collections is available for residents who are physically unable to put their waste out at the collection point and who have no-one else living in the household to help them.
Households with exceptional circumstances which require additional grey wheeled bin capacity can apply for a larger grey wheeled bin.
Households can subscribe to our chargeable garden waste collection service.
Bulky household waste collections are available.
How to contact us:
Our contact form
*annual subscription fee for a green bin for new and existing customers in 2023/24 is £56.00. New subscribers to the scheme will also be required to purchase a bin at an additional cost of £31.00. Existing customers who require a replacement bin due to it being lost, stolen or damaged are required to purchase this at a cost of £31.00