We’re facing a climate emergency and we all need to do our bit to protect the environment.

The national target is for 50% of household waste to be recycled by 2025.

To help us work towards this target, we're making changes to how waste is collected. We need help from you – our residents – to recycle as much as you can.

From February 2023, Royal Greenwich will be switching to fortnightly collection of general waste – that's your black top wheelie bin.

This will affect you if you live in a property that has wheelie bins.

We will not collect extra bags of waste anymore. All of your general waste must be put in your black top wheelie bin.

Cutting down the amount of general waste we collect encourages recycling by making people think about what and how much they throw away.

By recycling more, less waste is incinerated, which is kinder to the planet.

The majority of household waste can be recycled, so it’s important that you put the right thing in the right bin.

Your recycling and food and garden waste will still be collected weekly.

Our bins come in two sizes. If you have a smaller 140-litre black top wheelie bin, you can upsize this to the larger 204-litre if you need to.

If your 140-litre is big enough for your general waste, you won't need to change it.

By making this change, we’ll be sending out fewer collection trucks on the road, which will help cut down harmful CO2 emissions.

Most councils, including our neighbouring boroughs, have already made the move to fortnightly waste collection, and it’s time for us to do the same in Royal Greenwich.

We realise this is a big change, and we’re here to help.

We’ll share all the information you will need about the changes online and in Greenwich Info.

You will also get a waste collection calendar and you’ll be contacted by post with full details of how these changes will affect you.

Our waste advisors will be out in the community to speak to residents face-to-face.

By working together, we can all make a big difference and help protect the planet.