Kitchen
and kerbside caddy deliveries have been completed. If you live in a
property with its own garden and your food waste caddy hasn’t arrived
yet, place your food waste in your black refuse bin for now and report a missed delivery. (Select 'waste and recycling general enquiry'.) More
Please
try to not put your bin out for collection earlier than the evening
before your collection day, and try to take it back in as soon as
possible afterwards.
The District Council have acknowledged
a few minor difficulties with new vehicles, new collection routes and
new computer systems as well as delivery issues with some of the food
waste caddies. They have apologised for these teething issues and
extend our sincere thanks and appreciation for everyone’s patience as
the service settles in, and look forward to delivering continued
improvements for our district. More
27 March 2026
From Tuesday 31 March, your food and garden waste will be collected separately.
The new brown kerbside caddy (along with a caddy for the kitchen) is for food waste, which will be collected weekly for free. Your caddy should have been delivered by now. More
Your existing green-lidded bin will be for garden waste only, collected fortnightly for a charge of £60 per year. If you want to continue to have your garden waste collected, you need to pay the charge. More and how to pay.
We
understand that some residents who have paid for a second green-lidded
bin have received bins without lids. The District Council have said
that this is due to supply from manufacturers being affected due to
high demand for new wheeled bins and food caddies. Councils across the
country are introducing new or adaptations to their collection
services, in preparation for new government rules from April to
simplify recycling and waste collection services. Lids will be
delivered in a few weeks, and the new bins can be used in the meantime.
13 February 2026 Charging for garden waste collections and new food caddies
The
existing green-lidded bin will be for garden waste only from 31 March
with a charge of £60 per year to pay for collection. Once paid, a
permit sticker for the green-lidded bin will be provided that shows
your address and a unique reference number. Garden waste bins without a
corresponding permit will not be collected. More and how to sign up.
Also
from 31 March, food waste will be collected separately (for free) in a
new brown kerbside caddy, and residents will also be provided a kitchen
caddy for scraps indoors. More
Don’t
start using your new brown kerbside caddy until the new waste changes
come into place from 31 March. You should continue to use the
green-lidded bin for food and garden waste until then.
16 January 2026 Food
and garden waste will be collected separately from 31 March. Households
will receive new brown kerbside and kitchen caddies for food waste,
which will be collected weekly. This service will be free.
The
existing green-lidded wheelie bin will be used for garden waste only
and collected fortnightly. The District Council are planning to charge
£60 per year from 31 March, although the cost is to be confirmed.
Residents who want to subscribe will be able to apply from 1 February. More
19 December 2025 Food and garden waste will be collected separately from 31 March.
Households
will receive new brown kerbside and kitchen caddies for food waste,
which will be collected weekly. This service will be free.
The
existing green-lidded wheelie bin will be used for garden waste only
and collected fortnightly from those who sign up to a subscription
service, which will start from 31 March. Residents who want to
subscribe will be able to apply from 1 February. More
28 November 2025 A report to the Council
(PDF, p26) has described the level of service since Terra Verde
Services (TVS), a wholly owned Council company took on the service from
Biffa in November last year. The report says:
Missed Collection Calls dropped from a monthly average of around 534 to around 307 post-launch.
Complaints fell from 90 to 70 in the year following launch.
Since
the changeover, TVS has maintained full operational continuity, with no
service failures or incomplete collection routes. On rare occasions
where road closures, or similar, have prevented access, crews have been
redeployed the following day to complete collections.
A new bespoke operations hub has recently been opened at North Weald Airfield. More.
31 October 2025 Blue-lidded recycling bins update
The Council has published this update report on the rollout of blue-lidded recycling bins.
If you have large boxes to recycle, please flatten them and place them by your recycling bin for collection.
In
March, the Council will issue free kerbside caddies for food waste in
preparation for the separation of food from your green lidded garden
waste bin. Until then you can continue to use your green lidded bin for
your food waste.
There is currently no stock of larger blue recycling bins. If you want an additional bin email recyclingrewards@eppingforestdc.gov.uk with your full name, address, post code and phone number.
4 July 2025 New blue-lidded recycling bins have been delivered, along with a leaflet which you can download here
(PDF). These new bins replace both the clear recycling sacks and blue
box. Large cardboard boxes will be collected if folded/flattened and
left beside the bin.
If your bin has not been delivered, check here.
If your street is not on the list there is no need to do anything -
delivery will be by the end of July. If your street is on the list call
the District Council on 01992 564000. Blocks of flats will not get the
new bins as they use communal bins for their recycling
You
can keep your old glass recycling blue box to use for storage etc., put
it out with your refuse collection, or take it to your local recycling centre
for disposal. If you have any leftover recycling bags, remember they
are bio-degradable and can start degrading in as little as a year. More frequently asked questions are here.
You
will be able to request a larger, additional or smaller bin, but not
until 1 September when the initial rollout is complete.
6 June 2025 The
District Council are delivering new blue-lidded recycling bins. These
replace both the clear recycling sacks and blue box and the Council has
now decided cardboard will be collected if folded/flattened and left
beside the bin.
Residents
can start using the new bin as soon as they receive it. The next
collection will be the last which clear sacks will be taken.
Bins
will be delivered in stages during June and July to limit disruption to
collections. Blocks of flats will not get the new bins as they use
communal bins for their recycling. More
We
understand you will be able to request from the Council a larger,
additional or smaller bin, but not until 1 September when the initial
rollout is complete.
17 April 2025 New
blue-lidded recycling bins will be replacing both the clear recycling
sacks and blue box currently used for recycling items including paper,
plastic containers, tins and cans, and glass bottles and jars. The
rollout of the new bin begins in June and residents can start using the
new bin as soon as they receive it. Bins will be delivered in stages
during June and July to limit disruption to collections. Blocks of
flats will not get the new bins as they use communal bins for their
recycling.
All
eligible households will get a 240-litre bin which is bigger than the
black-lidded household waste bins. Larger (340 litre) and smaller (180
litre) bins will be available on request. More
LRA
Cllr Chris Pond was told in a reply to a question by him at a full
Council meeting that the blue-lidded bins will need to contain all
recycling. Side waste will not be collected. This means that cardboard
boxes, for instance, will have to be collapsed and put in the bin. They
will not be collected if left by the side.
14 February 2025 Blue Lidded Wheeled Bins for Recycling The
District Council has now decided to replace single use clear plastic
recycling sacks with a blue lidded wheeled bin to reduce ongoing costs
and provide more efficient service delivery. The rollout of the blue
bins will start from June. More (from p27) (PDF)
17 January 2025 Currently
recycling is collected on a fortnightly basis via single use plastic
sacks, with glass collected separately via a blue box container. This
method of collection means residents use more than 9 million single use
plastic sacks per year which cost a minimum of £405,000 per year.
£28,512 is also spent on replacement blue box containers for glass per
year.
The
District Council is now considering replacing the single use clear
plastic recycling sacks with a blue lidded wheeled bin to reduce
ongoing costs and provide more efficient service delivery. (Read the full report here,
from p16). This follows a pilot that has been running in several roads
in Theydon Bois, as well as use by additional households who have
requested wheeled bins for recycling. It is now estimated that 5% of
properties in the district now recycle via a blue lidded wheeled bin.
If
the Council decide to go ahead, deliveries of wheeled bins and an
information leaflet to households will commence in June. Some
exemptions would be allowed if space and access is limited in specific
cases (More, p40).
29 November 2024 Waste
and Recycling collections, along with street cleaning, are now provided
by a Council-owned company called Terra Verde Services (TVS). Provision
and maintenance of a new fleet of waste and recycling vehicles is
provided by Specialist Fleet Services Ltd (SFS), who has responsibility
for the maintenance of the fleet which takes place at the Council’s new
environmental operations hub at North Weald Airfield.
TVS
took over the service from Biffa in early November. We are not aware of
any disruptions to the service, and the Council has reported that there
were practically no technical glitches, any significant missed
collections or additional calls to the Council’s Customer Services
Contact Centre. More
10 September 2024 The District Council are transferring responsibility of waste collection from Biffa to a council-owned waste collection
company called Terra Verde Services from November. At this stage the
Council have yet to announce any changes for the service. We will let
you know via our social media channels of any changes that will happen,
and keep watch for any messages from the District Council on the
subject.
7 June 2024 As
reported last year, the District Council decided to create a Council
owned company that will collect household waste and recycling, and also
provide street cleansing. This will replace the existing service
provided by Biffa, and will start in November.
The
future service will be operated by the District Council's new wholly
owned company Terra Verde Services (TVS), with provision and
maintenance of a new fleet of waste and recycling vehicles from
Specialist Fleet Services Ltd (SFS). SFS will have responsibility for
the maintenance of the fleet, which will take place at the Council’s
new environmental operations hub at North Weald Airfield. More
14 July 2023 District Council to Manage Waste and Recycling Collections
The
District Council has decided to create a council owned company that
will collect household waste and recycling. It will also provide street
cleansing.
The new arrangements are planned to be in place
once the existing contract with Biffa ends in November 2024, with the
Council planning to take full management control including:
A council owned operating company
Buying, or leasing and maintaining its own vehicles
Building a new operations hub at North Weald to support the vehicle fleet and crews
This
follows last winter's disruption to the service. Earlier this year the
Council decided to go to market and run a full procurement process for
the Waste/Street Cleansing contract. At the time, the Council also
announced they were planning to use part of North Weald Airfield to
park and maintaining refuse vehicles when not on the road, after a new
contractor was in place. They have now decided outsourcing to a private
company is not the way forward for the service.
The Council has
not publicly released material related to the decision or given details
on the outcomes they expect, except to say "value for money is much
more important than the cheapest option [and] the new service will need
to hit environmental targets as well as customer expectations." They
also say they are "moving away from diesel, looking at ways to procure
a greener, cleaner fleet powered by more sustainable fuels". More
LRA Comment: This
may save money as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
has stated that the market for services in this area is highly
concentrated (p10)
when they investigated the merger of Veolia and
Suez in 2022, which can lead to higher costs for Councils. However it
could make the District Council vulnerable to strike action (from
which it's been free since the 1980s). It does make a third
wheelie bin more likely for recycling, which may be fine for houses
with big
gardens and side exits; but impractical for small houses and cottages.
3 March 2023 Disruption to Waste and Recycling Collections
Collections seem to have returned to normal, with only a small number of roads currently affected.
If you collection is missed, check here. If your road is on the list leave your bins out to be collected. If your road is not on the list report it here.
If you are reliant on an assisted collection and this is not happening, report it to the District Council online
or call 01992 564000. (Assisted collections can be arranged for elderly
or disabled residents who cannot move their bins to the boundary,
providing there is no-one else in their household or they have a
willing neighbour who is able to move the bins for them. You can apply here or call 01992 564000.)
10 February 2023 Disruption to Waste and Recycling Collections
The District Council has provided an update
on the ongoing issues with domestic waste and recycling collections.
Most of the excessive number of full bins and piles of recycling that
were on the streets in January have now been taken away.
There are now only small number of streets where collections have been missed. If your collection is missed, check here first to see if Council already knows, in which case leave your bins out to be collected. More on what to do if this does not happen.
As
reported previously the Council has now decided to go to market and run
a full procurement process for the Waste/Street Cleansing contract. The
Council is also reported to be looking at options at North Weald
Airfield for parking and maintaining refuse vehicles when they are not
on the road, plus washing and parking facilities for the crews. No
waste will be processed there. The aerodrome is the only place they
have to do this, though of course it is a long way from most of the
population in the District. They say that this will put the Council in
a better position when procuring the new waste and recycling contract
when the current one expires in November 2024, and potentially brings
down costs for more companies to bid, knowing that there is a central
council-owned place to park trucks to keep, clean, and maintain all the
refuse fleet when not on their rounds. One of the reasons Biffa won the
contract is that they could do this. In reality, there are not many
firms who are in a position to bid anyway.
The Council are also making budget provision to buy new refuse vehicles to replace the current ageing fleet. LRA
Comment: The District Council should not have been so quick to sell off
its Langston Road depot 8-9 years ago, which was much more central to
the population. They used it for the Epping Forest Shopping Park, and
in doing so created a traffic bottleneck.
13 January 2023 Apology for Missed Bin Collections
The District Council has apologised for the ongoing issues with domestic waste and recycling collections.
Poor
performance by waste and recycling contractor Biffa over Christmas and
the New Year has compounded problems due to the severe weather earlier
in December. While the pre-Christmas cold snap exacerbated the current
difficulties, the recent problems are part of a longer term trend.
There
are many causes to the current situation. The District Council may now
be questioning the wisdom of redeveloping the old refuse vehicle
maintenance depot on Langston Road and getting Biffa to maintain depots
instead, along with a fleet of new lorries which may all need replacing
at once. LRA has pointed this out in the past.
If your collection is missed, check here first to see if Council already knows, in which case leave your bins out to be collected. More on what to do
if this does not happen. Currently there are dozens of streets in our
town that have not had recycling or food and garden waste bins
collected.
As
reported previously the Council have now decided go to market and run a
full procurement process for the Waste/Street Cleansing contract which
expires in November 2024.
24 April 2026