Recycling rules for Bromley
Based on Bromley published guidance · Last verified September 2026
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
Here's what currently goes in each bin in Bromley.
Search what goes in your bins →Quick answers for Bromley
Polystyrene: Not accepted in Bromley's recycling bin
Refuse sack (cups and trays).
Cardboard: Goes in your paper & card bin
Flatten or cut up to fit, or a neat 2ftx3ft bundle.
Glass bottles and jars: Goes in your recycling bin
All colours, including jar and bottle tops.
Food waste: Bromley has a separate food waste collection
Takes fruit, vegetables and peelings, meat, fish and bones, cooked and uncooked food and more.
Shredded paper: Goes in your paper & card bin
In a large envelope, paper bag or cereal box.
Tins and cans: Goes in your recycling bin
Your bins in Bromley, by colour
Black box
Paper and card
Most flats use a blue lid wheelie bin for paper and card instead
Green box
Plastics, cans, glass and cartons
Green is the recycling colour in 26 of the 91 councils with a checked recycling colour.
Availability: Not most flats (borough-wide flats service)
Most flats use a green lid wheelie bin instead
Black sack
Non-recyclable refuse
Residents supply their own: black sacks or equivalent, or bagged inside their own wheelie bin
Green bin
Plastics, cans and glass
Green lid; most flats (borough-wide flats service)
Blue bin
Paper and card
Blue lid; most flats (borough-wide flats service)
What goes in each bin
Recycling
Accepted
Metals
- Drink cans · Symbol guide
- Aerosol cans · UK basics
- Food tins and foil · UK basics
- Aluminium tubes · E.g. tomato puree tubes
Glass
- Glass bottles and jars · All colours, including jar and bottle tops · Symbol guide
Plastics
- Milk and drinks bottles
- Detergent bottles
- Shampoo bottles
- Plastic trays · Symbol guide
- Yoghurt pots
- Ice-cream tubs
- Margarine tubs
- Plastic tubes · E.g. toothpaste tubes
- Plastic plant pots · Not black plastic pots
Other
- Tetra Paks and drink cartons · Juice, milk and other beverage cartons · Symbol guide
Not accepted
- Black plastic containers
- Plastic bags · UK basicsInstead: Most larger supermarkets, or your refuse sack
- Plastic film · UK basicsInstead: Most larger supermarkets, or your refuse sack
- Plastic toysInstead: Put in your refuse sack
- Crisp packets and sweet wrappers · UK basics
- Other metal
- PyrexInstead: Wrap carefully and put in your refuse sack
- Drinking glassesInstead: Wrap carefully and put in your refuse sack
- Crockery
- Broken glassInstead: Wrap carefully and put in your refuse sack
- Window glass
- Polystyrene · UK basicsInstead: Refuse sack (cups and trays)
- Recycling in black bagsInstead: Use your green box
Common mistakes
- Batteries · Loosely tied bag by your green or black box · UK basics
- Small electrical items · Loosely tied bag by your green or black box · Symbol guide
- Vapes · Bag with small electricals, by your box
- Clothes and textiles · Loosely tied bag by your box (houses) · UK basics
Tips (16)
- • Collected every other week
- • Box at property edge by 7am
- • Not directly on the pavement
- • Glass of all colours accepted
- • Jar and bottle tops accepted
- • Cartons go in the green box
- • Plant pots ok, not black ones
- • No black plastic containers
- • No plastic bags or film
- • Soft plastics to supermarkets
- • No crisp or sweet wrappers
- • No Pyrex, crockery or glasses
- • No broken or window glass
- • No polystyrene
- • No black bags for recycling
- • Batteries never in the boxes
Food Waste
Accepted
- Fruit, vegetables and peelings
- Meat, fish and bones
- Cooked and uncooked food
- Plate scrapings
- Leftover food
- Bread, pasta, cereal and rice
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Dairy products and eggshells
- Cut flowers · Placed in a compostable bag or newspaper
Not accepted
- Plastic film and food wrappings
- Disposable nappies and incontinence padsInstead: Double-bag and place in refuse
- Pet wasteInstead: Double-bag and place in refuse
- Any other household waste
- Black bags instead of a containerInstead: Contact the council for another container
Common mistakes
- Cooking oil and fat → goes in General Waste · Cool, seal in a container; not down the sink
Tips (14)
- • Collected every week
- • Container out by 7am
- • Meat, fish and bones accepted
- • Cooked and uncooked food ok
- • Tea bags and coffee grounds ok
- • Dairy and eggshells accepted
- • Plate scrapings accepted
- • Cut flowers in compostable bag
- • No plastic film or wrappings
- • No plastic/biodegradable bags
- • Double-bag nappies for refuse
- • Pet waste goes in refuse
- • No black bags as containers
- • Ask us for another container
Garden Waste
Accepted
- Grass cuttings
- Leaves
- Prunings
- Hedge trimmings
- Small branches and twigs
Not accepted
- Rubble
- Soil
- Food or household waste
- Flower pots, garden furniture or anything made of plastic
- Tree trunks and large branches
Tips (8)
- • No bags or sacks needed
- • 240-litre wheelie bin
- • Fortnightly March to November
- • Monthly December to February
- • At the property edge by 7am
- • Contaminated bins not emptied
- • Report a miss within 48 hours
- • 12-month minimum subscription
Paper & Card
Accepted
- Newspapers and magazines · Symbol guide
- Old letters and bills
- Envelopes
- Catalogues and phone books
- Cardboard packaging and boxes · Flatten or cut up to fit, or a neat 2ftx3ft bundle
- Pizza, cereal and egg boxes
- Cardboard tubes · E.g. toilet rolls
- Greeting cards · No glitter
- Shredded paper · In a large envelope, paper bag or cereal box · UK basics
Not accepted
- Hardback booksInstead: Give them to charity
- Drink and milk cartonsInstead: Green box
- Tetra PaksInstead: Green box
Common mistakes
- Batteries · Loosely tied bag by your green or black box
- Small electrical items · Loosely tied bag by your green or black box
Tips (14)
- • Collected every other week
- • Box at property edge by 7am
- • Not directly on the pavement
- • Flatten or cut up cardboard
- • Bundle card 2ftx3ft by the box
- • Shredded paper in an envelope
- • No glitter on greeting cards
- • Pizza boxes are accepted
- • Egg and cereal boxes accepted
- • Toilet roll tubes accepted
- • Cartons go in the green box
- • No hardback books
- • Give hardbacks to charity
- • No batteries or electricals
How Bromley compares
- Paper and card have their own container in Bromley, as in 53 of the 182 councils we have checked.
Food waste in Bromley
In Bromley’s own words (checked September 2026): “Every week we will collect your food waste.”
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 Bromley
- Postcode districts all or nearly all in Bromley: BR2, BR3, BR4, BR5, BR6, BR7 and SE20.
- Postcode districts mostly in Bromley: BR1 (shared with Lewisham).
- Postcode districts partly in Bromley: SE9 (shared with Greenwich); SE19 (shared with Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark); SE26 (shared with Lewisham); TN16 (shared with Sevenoaks, Tandridge).
Built-up area (ONS) with the most postcodes in Bromley: Bromley.
Shares count each district’s live postcodes; a district is listed where Bromley 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 recycling bin is blue; here the recycling box is green (availability: Not most flats (borough-wide flats service)).
On bank holidays, that week’s collections move a day later in Bromley; in Lambeth, collections stay on the usual day. Aerosols go in the recycling in Bromley but not in Lambeth. Shredded paper goes in the recycling in Bromley but not in Lambeth.
Neighbouring councils we have checked: Sevenoaks, Bexley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark.
When are bins collected in Bromley?
Bromley sets collection days by street: find your bin day, or browse neighbours’ schedules by postcode.
In Bromley, 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 is collected less often in December, January and February.
No Bromley streets on BinBosh yet: add yours for neighbours to adopt.
How we checked this page
We checked this guidance against Bromley’s website in September 2026.
Source: Bromley 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 Bromley?
In Bromley the recycling box is green (availability: Not most flats (borough-wide flats service)). Bromley also lists a black box for paper and card, a black sack for non-recyclable refuse, a green bin for plastics, cans and glass, and a blue bin for paper and card. Green is the recycling colour in 26 of the 91 councils with a checked recycling colour.
Where does glass go in Bromley?
Glass goes in the green recycling box (availability: Not most flats (borough-wide flats service)) in Bromley (“Glass bottles and jars”).
Does Bromley collect food waste, and how often?
In Bromley’s own words (checked September 2026): “Every week we will collect your food waste.”
Is garden waste collected all year in Bromley?
Garden waste is collected less often in December, January and February.
Do bin collections change on bank holidays in Bromley?
In Bromley, 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 Bromley?
Bromley’s recycling bin takes “Drink cans”, “Aerosol cans” and “Food tins and foil”, among other things.
See the full recycling listWork for Bromley? See how BinBosh helps councils →
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