Recycling rules for Redbridge
Based on Redbridge published guidance · Last verified September 2026
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
Here's what currently goes in each bin in Redbridge.
Search what goes in your bins →Quick answers for Redbridge
Polystyrene: Usually general waste (UK-wide position)UK-wide, not council-specific
Across the UK, polystyrene is rarely collected at the kerbside and usually belongs in general waste. Redbridge's published guidance we hold doesn't list it.
Glass bottles and jars: Goes in your recycling bin
Box 1.
Food waste: Redbridge has a separate food waste collection
Takes plate scrapings, eggs and eggshells, cheese and other dairy foods and more.
Tins and cans: Goes in your recycling bin
Box 1.
Clothes: Needs specialist recycling, not your kerbside bins
TRAID free doorstep collection, or Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre.
Aerosols: Goes in your recycling bin
Box 1.
Your bins in Redbridge, by colour
Black bin
Domestic waste
Colour stated only on the clinical waste page; sack users and homes above shops differ
Black sack
Rubbish
Homes using sacks instead of a wheelie bin; up to three a week
Red sack
Rubbish
Homes above shops only
Green sack
Garden waste
Optional; £2 from Redbridge libraries. Open black sacks are also accepted
What goes in each bin
Recycling
Accepted
Metals
- Food tins and drinks cans · Box 1 · Symbol guide
- Empty aerosol cans · Box 1 · UK basics
- Aluminium foil and foil trays · Box 1 — rinsed, no food, scrunch small pieces · UK basics
Glass
- Glass bottles and jars · Box 1 · Symbol guide
Plastics
- Plastic bottles · Box 1 · Symbol guide
- Plastic pots, tubs and trays · Box 1 — clean, rinsed, no food, no black plastic
Paper & Card
- Cartons and Tetra Paks · Box 1 — accepted from 31 March 2026 · Symbol guide
- Paper · Box 2
- Envelopes · Box 2 — including windows
- Thin card · Box 2
- Thick card · Box 2 — fold or cut it to fit inside the box
Other
- Clean tubes · Box 1 — e.g. face wash; accepted from 31 March 2026
Collected with this bin, not inside it
- Large cardboard should be cut up or flattened and placed neatly next to your recycling box.
Not accepted
- Black plastic · UK basics
- Recycling with food on it
- Recycling in black bagsInstead: Clear sacks, cardboard boxes or similar storage boxes
- Recycling in a bin or wheelie binInstead: Recycling boxes or clear sacks
- Recycling in dustbins or moving crates
Common mistakes
- Batteries · Never in a household bin; use a battery recycling point · UK basics
- Small electricals · Never in a household bin; Chigwell Road centre takes them · Symbol guide
- Laughing gas canisters · Gas canister cage at Chigwell Road Recycling Centre
- Paint · Not collected at kerbside; Chigwell Road centre takes it
- Needles and syringes · Sharps container; free collection, call 020 8554 5000
- Nappies and sanitary products → goes in General Waste · Hygiene waste goes in your domestic waste wheelie bin
- Clothes and textiles · TRAID free doorstep collection, or Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre · UK basics
Tips (15)
- • Use the 2 box system
- • Clear sacks, not black bags
- • Out by 6am on collection day
- • Boxes within your boundary
- • Rinse and squash, no food
- • No black plastic
- • Flatten cardboard
- • Remove packing tape
- • Card bundles max 2ft x 3ft
- • Never in a wheelie bin
- • No dustbins or moving crates
- • Weekly, same day as rubbish
- • Cartons from 31 March 2026
- • Scrunch small foil pieces
- • Boxes come with a soft lid
Food Waste
Accepted
- Plate scrapings
- Eggs and eggshells
- Cheese and other dairy foods
- Fruit and vegetables · Raw or cooked
- Bread, pastries, cakes and biscuits
- Meat and bones · Raw or cooked
- Fish and fish bones · Raw or cooked
- Rice, pasta and beans
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
Not accepted
- Oils
- Liquid fat
- Garden waste
- Animal bedding
- Packaging of any kind
- Liquids like milk
- Carrier bags as caddy linersInstead: Reuse small bags such as bread, salad or cereal bags
Tips (14)
- • Weekly, on your usual bin day
- • Out by 6am at your boundary
- • Tie the liner before moving it
- • Liners are optional
- • No carrier bags as liners
- • Reuse bread or salad bags
- • Cooked or raw food accepted
- • Bones are accepted
- • No oils or liquid fat
- • No liquids like milk
- • No packaging of any kind
- • Handle upright locks the lid
- • Must use council outdoor caddy
- • Wash caddies in soapy water
Garden Waste
Accepted
- Hedge cuttings
- Grass cuttings
- Weeds
- Garden plants
- Flowers
- Dead leaves
- Twigs
Not accepted
- Builders' sacksInstead: Open black sacks or official garden waste sacks
Tips (12)
- • Max five bags per collection
- • Out by 6am at your boundary
- • Sacks must be left open
- • Open black sacks are fine
- • Green sacks sold at libraries
- • No builders' sacks
- • Collected every fortnight
- • Runs March to October
- • Pay cash at Central Library
- • Proof of residency to buy
- • Lost bags not replaced free
- • Homes with own gardens only
Food waste in Redbridge
In Redbridge’s own words (checked September 2026): “10,000 households across Redbridge are already benefiting from our food waste collections following its phased rollout last year, and from November and December this year all remaining houses will have the service too.”
22 of the 181 councils whose food waste guidance we have checked say it is starting or being rolled out.
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 Redbridge
- Postcode districts all or nearly all in Redbridge: E18, IG1, IG2, IG3, IG4, IG5 and IG6.
- Postcode districts mostly in Redbridge: IG8 (shared with Epping Forest, Waltham Forest); RM6 (shared with Barking and Dagenham).
- Postcode districts partly in Redbridge: E11 (shared with Waltham Forest); E12 (shared with Newham); IG7 and IG9 (shared with Epping Forest).
Built-up area (ONS) with the most postcodes in Redbridge: Redbridge.
Shares count each district’s live postcodes; a district is listed where Redbridge 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 Redbridge; in Havering, collections stay on the usual day.
Neighbouring councils we have checked: Epping Forest, Havering, Newham.
When are bins collected in Redbridge?
Redbridge sets collection days by street: find your bin day, or browse neighbours’ schedules by postcode.
In Redbridge, 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.
Redbridge does not collect garden waste in November, December, January and February.
BinBosh reminders skip these weeks, and a missed check-in in them does not break your streak.
No Redbridge streets on BinBosh yet: add yours for neighbours to adopt.
How we checked this page
We checked this guidance against Redbridge’s website in September 2026.
Source: Redbridge 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 Redbridge?
Glass goes in the recycling bin in Redbridge (“Glass bottles and jars”).
Does Redbridge collect food waste, and how often?
In Redbridge’s own words (checked September 2026): “10,000 households across Redbridge are already benefiting from our food waste collections following its phased rollout last year, and from November and December this year all remaining houses will have the service too.”
Is garden waste collected all year in Redbridge?
Redbridge does not collect garden waste in November, December, January and February.
Do bin collections change on bank holidays in Redbridge?
In Redbridge, 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 Redbridge?
Redbridge’s recycling bin takes “Food tins and drinks cans”, “Glass bottles and jars” and “Plastic bottles”, among other things.
See the full recycling listWork for Redbridge? See how BinBosh helps councils →
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