Garden Waste Collection is a free, fortnightly collection service offered to the residents of Redbridge Borough Council. The service is carried out on a seasonal basis, during the plant growing season.

2021 Garden Waste: Garden waste collections will resume on Tuesday 6 April 2021 

Please check the website closer to that time for your specific day of collection

Missed collections

We are really sorry if we missed your garden waste collection. If your garden waste collection was scheduled within the last 2 working days, you can report your missed collection.

Presenting your waste

Please use your council supplied garden waste bag to present your green garden waste and leave it at the boundary of your property the night before your collection day.

If you do not have an official bag, then please present your garden waste in open black sacks, neatly presented at the boundary of your property. We will be giving out bags again at collection points once the Covid-19 situation is over and in accordance with government guidelines.

Your garden waste will be collected every 2 weeks.

Please do not put out too many bags at once and try not to overfill the bag to ensure it can be lifted and emptied by a crew member. If you do not have enough garden waste bags, you can leave your garden waste in open black bin bags.

We are starting collections at the earlier time of 6am, please ensure your garden waste is out for collection before this.

What we collect

We collect the following garden waste items: 

• cut flowers 
• weeds 
• leaves 
• grass cuttings 
• hedge trimmings 
• twigs 

We will not be able to collect the following:

• fruit fall
• plastic
• soil
• stones and rubble
• general household waste
• food waste (including fruit and vegetable peelings)
• plastic bags

If you put items that are not acceptable into your bag, we will not be able to empty it and we will not arrange a missed collection pick up.  Photographic evidence may be taken and if your bag is regularly filled with non-green waste, we may stop collections. 

Other ways to dispose of garden waste

Green waste such as grass trimmings, plant cuttings, and weeds are ideal for composting alongside waste from the home such as shredded paper, cardboard, and eggshells. Composting is great for the environment and is a fantastic natural way to dispose of garden waste. 

We would like to encourage more residents to find out the benefits of composting.  

If you prefer on this occasion to dispose of your garden waste yourself, you can by visiting any of the council’s Recycling Centres that are managed by the East London Waste Authority.

For full details please visit the East London Waste Authority website.

Remember that you must dispose of all your rubbish responsibly. Dumping rubbish is a serious offence and those caught fly-tipping face a £400 on-the-spot fine.