Recycling rules for Bexley
Based on Bexley published guidance · Last verified September 2026
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
Here's what currently goes in each bin in Bexley.
Search what goes in your bins →Quick answers for Bexley
Polystyrene: Not accepted in Bexley's recycling bin
Small amounts in general waste; more to the centres.
Cardboard: Goes in your paper & card bin
Glass bottles and jars: Goes in your recycling bin
Box homes: black box.
Food waste: Bexley has a separate food waste collection
Takes all food scraps, eggshells, cooked or raw meat and more.
Shredded paper: Goes in your paper & card bin
Put it in a cereal box or paper bag first.
Tins and cans: Goes in your recycling bin
Empty and rinsed; box homes use the maroon box.
Your bins in Bexley, by colour
Green bin (green lid)
Non-recyclable rubbish
Green lid; homes on box or clear-sack recycling use black sacks or dustbins
Green bin (white lid)
Plastic packaging, glass, cans and cartons
240 litres; box homes use a black box and a maroon box, flats have communal bins
Green bin (blue lid)
Paper and cardboard
180 litres; box homes use a green box, flats have communal blue bins
Black sack
Non-recyclable rubbish
Resident-supplied; homes on box or clear-sack recycling (box homes may use dustbins)
Green box
Paper and cardboard
Homes not suitable for wheelie bins; standard homes use the blue-lidded wheelie bin
Black box
Glass bottles and jars
Homes not suitable for wheelie bins; plastics, cans and cartons go in a maroon box
Blue bin
Paper and cardboard
Large communal bins in blocks of flats
Brown box
Food waste
Brown is the food waste colour in 26 of the 74 councils with a checked food waste colour.
23 litres, collected weekly; flats with communal bins use a kitchen caddy instead
Brown bin
Garden waste
Brown is the garden waste colour in 77 of the 141 councils with a checked garden waste colour.
Paid subscription: £87 a year (£82 by Direct Debit), emptied every two weeks
What goes in each bin
Recycling
Accepted
Glass
- Glass bottles and jars · Box homes: black box · Symbol guide
Plastics
- Plastic bottles · Give it a quick rinse when you do the washing up · Symbol guide
- Plastic milk bottles
- Yoghurt pots
- Spread and margarine tubs
- Ice cream tubs
- Plastic food trays · Trays that hold meat, fruit or ready meals
- Plastic tubes · E.g. toothpaste and icing tubes
- Toiletries bottles
- Cleaning product bottles · Empty bottles only
- Plastic cups · Including vending cups
- Vitamin tubs and tubes
- Plastic plant pots · White-lidded bin only; not boxes or communal bins
Metals
- Food tins and drink cans · Empty and rinsed; box homes use the maroon box · Symbol guide
- Pet food cans · Rinse with a long-handled brush to avoid cuts
- Aerosol cans · Must be empty · UK basics
- Foil and foil food trays · Clean; scrunch into a large, loose ball · UK basics
- Metal tubes · E.g. tomato puree tubes
- Metal lids
Other
- Sweet and cake tubs and tins · Plastic tubs or metal tins
- Food and drink cartons · Rinse first; box homes use the maroon box · Symbol guide
- Empty glass or plastic medicine bottles
Not accepted
- Recycling in plastic bags or black sacksInstead: Put recycling in the bin loose
- Plastic film and cling film · UK basicsInstead: Some supermarkets' plastic bag banks, or general waste
- Plastic carrier bags · UK basicsInstead: Some supermarkets recycle carrier bags
- Crisp packets · UK basics
- Cut flower cellophaneInstead: General waste
- Mirrors and sheet glassInstead: Non-recyclable area at the recycling centres
- Glass cookware such as PyrexInstead: General waste or the recycling centres
- Drinking glassesInstead: Wrap well and put in general waste
- Pet food pouchesInstead: General waste
- Plastic pouchesInstead: General waste; some via the Wasteless Market
- Polystyrene · UK basicsInstead: Small amounts in general waste; more to the centres
- Bubble wrapInstead: Reuse it, or put it in general waste
- Plastic platesInstead: General waste
- NappiesInstead: General waste bin
Common mistakes
- Batteries · Battery banks at recycling centres, libraries, Civic Centre · UK basics
- Electrical items · Electrical area at the reuse and recycling centres · Symbol guide
- Light bulbs · Light bulb section at the reuse and recycling centres
- Vapes · Designated bins at the reuse and recycling centres
- Gas cylinders · Return to the store, or ask staff at a recycling centre
- Coffee pods · Thames Road or Foots Cray centres, or the Podback scheme
- Plastic toys · Hard plastics area at the reuse and recycling centres
- Pringles tubes → goes in General Waste · Or the Wasteless Market, which sends them to TerraCycle
- Biscuit wrappers → goes in General Waste · Or the Wasteless Market, which sends them to TerraCycle
Tips (17)
- • Recycle loose, never bagged
- • No black sacks or carrier bags
- • Quick rinse when washing up
- • Scrunch foil into a ball
- • Aerosols must be empty
- • Rinse cartons first
- • Plant pots: wheelie bin only
- • No film or crisp packets
- • No Pyrex or drinking glasses
- • No mirrors or sheet glass
- • No pet food pouches
- • No polystyrene or nappies
- • Box homes: glass in black box
- • Maroon box: plastics and cans
- • Out by 6am, lid closed
- • No side recycling
- • Batteries to battery banks
Food Waste
Accepted
- All food scraps
- Eggshells
- Cooked or raw meat · Including bones
- Cooked or raw fish · Including bones
- Bread and pastries
- Rice and pasta
- Tea, teabags and coffee grounds
- Fruit and vegetables
- Dairy · Listed on the flats (communal bins) food page
- Nuts
- Small amounts of fallen fruit · If you have space; ideally home compost or garden bin
Not accepted
- Garden wasteInstead: Brown garden waste bin (paid) or recycling centres
- Plastic packaging
- Plastic bags and black sacksInstead: Starch bags, old newspaper or paper bags
- Liquids
- FoilInstead: Clean foil: white-lidded recycling bin
Common mistakes
- Cooking oil · Oil container at the recycling centres; never down the sink
Tips (13)
- • Food box collected weekly
- • Line caddy with a starch bag
- • Newspaper or paper bags ok
- • No plastic bags as liners
- • Starch bags: from supermarkets
- • Council doesn't supply bags
- • Meat and fish bones accepted
- • Teabags, coffee grounds ok
- • No garden waste
- • No packaging or liquids
- • Ask for a fox-proof food bin
- • Soak up oil in kitchen roll
- • Out by 6am on collection day
Garden Waste
Accepted
- Hedge cuttings
- Grass cuttings
- Weeds
- Plants
- Flowers
- Dead leaves
- Twigs
- Fallen fruit
Collected with this bin, not inside it
- Real Christmas trees · No decorations; cut into 2-3 pieces, next to the bin
Not accepted
- Plastic or paper bags
- Plastic plant pots and labels
- Cut flower cellophane
- Manure
- Dog pooInstead: Bagged, in general waste
- Cat litterInstead: Non-biodegradable litter: general waste
- Pet bedding
- Soil, stones, gravel and rubbleInstead: Rubble and hardcore area at the centres
- Fences, MDF and treated woodInstead: MDF and wood: reuse and recycling centres
- Branches or logs over 6cm in diameterInstead: Wood or garden waste areas at the centres
- Garden waste left beside the bin
Common mistakes
- Food waste → goes in Food Waste · Food makes garden waste impossible to process
- Garden waste in the rubbish bin → goes in Garden Waste · Red-tagged and not emptied; compost it or use a centre
Tips (16)
- • Paid annual subscription
- • Emptied every two weeks
- • 25 collections a year
- • 4-week gap over Christmas
- • Garden waste loose, no bags
- • Keep the lid closed
- • No side waste collected
- • Bin out by 6am
- • No food waste in this bin
- • No soil, stones or rubble
- • No branches over 6cm across
- • No pet bedding or cat litter
- • Cut Christmas trees in 2-3
- • Up to four extra bins, payable
- • Contaminated bins not emptied
- • Don't burn garden waste
Paper & Card
Accepted
- Newspapers and magazines · Symbol guide
- Letters and envelopes · Whole or shredded
- Junk mail · Whole or shredded
- Shredded paper · Put it in a cereal box or paper bag first · UK basics
- Confidential papers · Shred first; small amounts can be torn
- Cereal boxes
- Dry food and medicine packaging · E.g. medicine boxes and information leaflets
- Cardboard food packaging · Not contaminated with food or fat
- Cardboard boxes · Break down, flatten and put inside the bin
- Paper bags · Remove plastic, rope or other non-paper handles
- Egg boxes · Not if very soiled
- Greeting cards
- Postcards
- Wrapping paper that tears easily · Tear test: no foil or plastic in it
- Catalogues and directories
- Brochures and leaflets
- Office paper
- Jiffy bags · Remove the plastic inside first
- Kitchen roll tubes · The inside tube only
- Clean greaseproof paper · Only if the paper is clean
Not accepted
- Glass and foilInstead: White-lidded recycling bin
- Plastic bags and black sacks
- Foam cups
- Used paper cups, plates and straws · UK basics
- Foil or glittery wrapping paper and gift bagsInstead: General waste
Common mistakes
- Food and drink cartons → goes in Recycling · White-lidded bin, rinsed first
- Greasy pizza boxes → goes in General Waste · Very soiled or greasy cardboard goes in general waste
Tips (15)
- • Clean, dry paper and card
- • Flatten boxes inside the bin
- • Only flat card as side waste
- • Shredded paper in a paper bag
- • Take non-paper handles off
- • Tear-test wrapping paper
- • No foil or glitter wrap
- • Cartons go in white-lid bin
- • No greasy pizza boxes
- • No used paper cups or plates
- • No foam cups or straws
- • Remove plastic from Jiffy bags
- • Box homes use the green box
- • Flats: blue communal bins
- • No plastic bags, put in loose
How Bexley compares
- Paper and card have their own container in Bexley, as in 53 of the 182 councils we have checked.
Food waste in Bexley
In Bexley’s own words (checked September 2026): “We collect food waste weekly as part of our standard service.”
The government’s rule for England requires “weekly food waste collections for most homes, unless a transitional arrangement applies”. Read it on gov.uk
Which councils collect food waste weeklyAreas covered by Bexley
- Postcode districts all or nearly all in Bexley: DA6, DA7, DA8, DA14, DA15, DA16, DA17 and DA18.
- Postcode districts mostly in Bexley: DA5 (shared with Dartford).
- Postcode districts partly in Bexley: DA1 (shared with Dartford); SE2 and SE28 (shared with Greenwich).
Built-up area (ONS) with the most postcodes in Bexley: Bexley.
Shares count each district’s live postcodes; a district is listed where Bexley has at least 5% of them or 50. Built-up areas are ONS statistical areas, not a list from the council.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2025. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Council homepages: GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Next door
In Greenwich the garden waste and food waste bin is green; here the garden waste bin is brown and the food waste box is brown.
Neighbouring councils we have checked: Sevenoaks, Bromley, Greenwich.
When are bins collected in Bexley?
Bexley sets collection days by street: find your bin day, or browse neighbours’ schedules by postcode.
In Bexley, a bank holiday pushes that week's collections back by a day: after a Monday holiday, Monday's bins go out on Tuesday, Tuesday's on Wednesday, and so on. BinBosh adjusts your dates automatically, and your neighbours can vote on the actual day if it differs.
Garden waste collections pause over Christmas.
No Bexley streets on BinBosh yet: add yours for neighbours to adopt.
How we checked this page
We checked this guidance against Bexley’s website in September 2026.
Source: Bexley council website, which has the latest updates. Bin colours are as the council publishes them; some homes get a different container.
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
Every report goes to BinBosh’s owner, who checks it against the council’s own page.
Frequently asked questions
What colour are the bins in Bexley?
In Bexley the food waste box is brown and the garden waste bin is brown. Bexley also lists a green bin for non-recyclable rubbish (green lid), a green bin for plastic packaging, glass, cans and cartons (white lid), a green bin for paper and cardboard (blue lid), a black sack for non-recyclable rubbish, a green box for paper and cardboard, a black box for glass bottles and jars, and a blue bin for paper and cardboard. Brown is the food waste colour in 26 of the 74 councils with a checked food waste colour.
Where does glass go in Bexley?
Glass goes in the recycling bin in Bexley (“Glass bottles and jars”).
Does Bexley collect food waste, and how often?
In Bexley’s own words (checked September 2026): “We collect food waste weekly as part of our standard service.”
Is garden waste collected all year in Bexley?
Garden waste collections pause over Christmas.
Do bin collections change on bank holidays in Bexley?
In Bexley, a bank holiday pushes that week's collections back by a day: after a Monday holiday, Monday's bins go out on Tuesday, Tuesday's on Wednesday, and so on. BinBosh adjusts your dates automatically, and your neighbours can vote on the actual day if it differs.
What goes in the recycling bin in Bexley?
Bexley’s recycling bin takes “Glass bottles and jars”, “Plastic bottles” and “Plastic milk bottles”, among other things.
See the full recycling listWork for Bexley? See how BinBosh helps councils →
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