Recycling rules for Buckinghamshire
Based on Buckinghamshire published guidance · Last verified September 2026
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
Here's what currently goes in each bin in Buckinghamshire.
Search what goes in your bins →Quick answers for Buckinghamshire
Polystyrene: Not accepted in Buckinghamshire's recycling bin
General waste bin.
Cardboard: Goes in your paper & card bin
Packaging, corrugated card, toilet and kitchen rolls.
Glass bottles and jars: Goes in your recycling bin
Rinse with your washing-up water.
Food waste: Buckinghamshire has a separate food waste collection
Takes uneaten food and plate scrapings, mouldy or out of date food, raw and cooked meat or fish and more.
Shredded paper: Goes in your paper & card bin
Must be put in an envelope.
Tins and cans: Goes in your recycling bin
Your bins in Buckinghamshire, by colour
Blue bin
All recycling (Aylesbury Vale)
Blue lid; Aylesbury Vale only. Elsewhere paper and card go in a separate box or bag
What goes in each bin
Recycling
Accepted
Plastics
- Plastic bottles · Symbol guide
- Plastic pots, tubs and trays, including black plastic trays
Glass
- Glass bottles and jars · Rinse with your washing-up water · Symbol guide
Metals
- Tins and cans · Symbol guide
- Tin foil and foil trays · UK basics
- Aerosols · UK basics
Paper & Card
- Milk, juice and soup cartons
Not accepted
- Paper and cardboard · Symbol guideInstead: Paper and cardboard box
- Plastic bags or liners · UK basics
- Cling film · UK basics
- Sweet or biscuit wrappers
- Plant pots
- Toys
- China and household glassware
- Polystyrene · UK basicsInstead: General waste bin
- Pet food pouches
- Electrical items · Symbol guideInstead: Carrier bag on top of your recycling bin
- Takeaway cups · UK basics
- Coat hangers
- VapesInstead: Clear bag on top of your recycling bin lid
- Broken glass in recycling sacks
Common mistakes
- Paper and cardboard → goes in Paper & Card · Except Aylesbury Vale, where all recycling shares one bin
- Batteries · Loose in a small clear bag on top of any bin · UK basics
- Small electricals · In a carrier bag on top of your recycling bin
- Textiles · Recycling centres, textile banks or kerbside sacks · UK basics
- Food waste → goes in Food Waste · Remove food from containers; food scraps go in the food recycling bin
- Nappies → goes in General Waste · Nappies and sanitary products go in general waste
Tips (10)
- • Rinse jars and bottles
- • Replace lids before recycling
- • Tear off greasy pizza box parts
- • Remove polystyrene from boxes
- • Keep all recycling loose
- • Black plastic trays accepted
- • Cartons go in mixed recycling
- • Paper: use the paper box
- • Batteries in a clear bag on top
- • Vapes in a clear bag on the lid
Food Waste
Accepted
- Uneaten food and plate scrapings
- Mouldy or out of date food
- Raw and cooked meat or fish · Including bones
- Dairy products · Such as cheese
- Fruit and vegetables · Raw, cooked or peelings
- Eggs and eggshells
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Rice, pasta and beans
- Baked goods · Cakes, bread and pastries
- Pet food
Not accepted
- Non-food products
- Packaging of any kind
- Liquids such as milk
- Black bin linersInstead: Compostable bags, clear bags, carrier bags or newspaper
- Rubble sacks or hard plastic packaging
Tips (8)
- • Line the caddy with any bag
- • Carrier bags are fine as liners
- • Newspaper or kitchen roll works
- • No black bin liners
- • Bones are accepted
- • Out of date food goes in
- • Pet food is accepted
- • No liquids such as milk
Garden Waste
Accepted
- Grass clippings
- Cuttings from trees or hedges · Including leaves
- Small branches · Maximum diameter 10 centimetres
- Non-noxious weeds, dead plants and flowers
- Fallen fruit
Not accepted
- Plastic carrier bags or bin liners
- Compostable liners
- Food wasteInstead: Food waste caddy
- Paper or cardboard
- Animal litter or bedding
- Large branches or timber
- Soil, turf, stones or rubble
- Plant pots
- Harmful weeds
- Plants treated with agricultural chemicals
Tips (8)
- • New subscribers get a bin sent
- • Collected every 2 weeks
- • Stops mid-December to late January
- • Sticker must be on the bin
- • Fallen fruit is accepted
- • Branches up to 10cm thick
- • No soil, turf or rubble
- • No plastic or compostable bags
Paper & Card
Accepted
- Paper · Magazines, newspapers, envelopes and junk mail
- Shredded paper · Must be put in an envelope · UK basics
- Cardboard · Packaging, corrugated card, toilet and kitchen rolls
- Greeting cards
- Books, directories and catalogues
Not accepted
- Plastic packaging, film or carrier bags
- Cartons · Symbol guideInstead: Mixed recycling
- Waxed or laminated paper and cardboard
- Takeaway cups
Tips (8)
- • Wycombe, Chiltern and South Bucks
- • Aylesbury Vale: use the main bin
- • Shredded paper in an envelope
- • Cartons go in mixed recycling
- • No waxed or laminated card
- • No takeaway cups
- • Flatten boxes under 1m by 1m
- • Extra card neatly beside the bin
How Buckinghamshire compares
- Paper and card have their own container in Buckinghamshire, as in 53 of the 182 councils we have checked.
Food waste in Buckinghamshire
31 of the 181 councils whose food waste guidance we have checked collect food waste but do not say it is weekly.
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 Buckinghamshire
- Postcode districts all or nearly all in Buckinghamshire: HP5, HP6, HP7, HP8, HP9, HP10, HP11, HP12, HP13, HP14, HP15, HP16, HP17, HP18, HP19, HP20, HP21, HP22, HP27, MK18, SL0, SL7, SL8 and SL9.
- Postcode districts mostly in Buckinghamshire: UB9 (shared with Hillingdon).
- Postcode districts partly in Buckinghamshire: HP23 (shared with Dacorum); LU6 and LU7 (shared with Central Bedfordshire); MK17 (shared with Milton Keynes, Central Bedfordshire); NN13 (shared with West Northamptonshire); OX27 (shared with Cherwell); RG9 (shared with Wokingham, South Oxfordshire); SL1 and SL2 (shared with Slough); SL3 (shared with Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead); SL6 (shared with Windsor and Maidenhead).
Built-up areas (ONS) with the most postcodes in Buckinghamshire: Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Chesham, Amersham, Chalfont St Peter, Hazlemere, Marlow, Buckingham, Beaconsfield, Slough, Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green, Gerrards Cross.
Shares count each district’s live postcodes; a district is listed where Buckinghamshire 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
On bank holidays, that week’s collections move a day later in Buckinghamshire; in Milton Keynes, collections stay on the usual day.
On bank holidays, that week’s collections move a day later in Buckinghamshire; in Central Bedfordshire, collections stay on the usual day.
Neighbouring councils we have checked: Milton Keynes, Central Bedfordshire, Three Rivers, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire.
When are bins collected in Buckinghamshire?
Buckinghamshire sets collection days by street: find your bin day, or browse neighbours’ schedules by postcode.
In Buckinghamshire, 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 from 14 December 2026 to 22 January 2027.
BinBosh reminders skip these weeks, and a missed check-in in them does not break your streak.
1 street in Buckinghamshire has a bin schedule on BinBosh, 0 confirmed by neighbours.
Add your street for neighbours to adopt.
How we checked this page
We checked this guidance against Buckinghamshire’s website in September 2026.
Source: Buckinghamshire 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
Where does glass go in Buckinghamshire?
Glass goes in the recycling bin in Buckinghamshire (“Glass bottles and jars”).
Is garden waste collected all year in Buckinghamshire?
Garden waste collections pause from 14 December 2026 to 22 January 2027.
Do bin collections change on bank holidays in Buckinghamshire?
In Buckinghamshire, 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 Buckinghamshire?
Buckinghamshire’s recycling bin takes “Plastic bottles”, “Plastic pots, tubs and trays, including black plastic trays” and “Glass bottles and jars”, among other things.
See the full recycling listWork for Buckinghamshire? See how BinBosh helps councils →
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