Interruptions to some recycling collections
We are currently experiencing interruption to our waste collection service due to ongoing staff shortages. We understand this has been frustrating, particularly regarding recent suspensions to our garden waste service, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.
From Monday 8 June, should a driver shortage occur on a specific route, we will temporarily suspend that route's plastic and cardboard recycling for one week.
As recycling is collected weekly, and is clean, empty and non-perishable, this allows us to recover the missed collection in a week’s time, while freeing up the remaining crew to collect the outstanding garden waste.
Schedules for rubbish, glass, and food waste collections will remain unaffected.
- Monday 8 June: no plastic and cardboard recycling collections on one of our routes. Map of affected roads. Next scheduled collection Monday 15 June.
New materials that you can put in your recycling bin!
From 1 April, residents in Epsom & Ewell will be able to recycle additional materials as part of the Simpler Recycling rules.
What additional items can I now put in my green recycling bin?
- cartons such as juice and plant milk cartons
- empty aerosol cans (Epsom & Ewell already recycled aerosol cans)
- foil - should be clean and scrunched into a ball no smaller than the size of a tennis ball
- foil trays - should be clean
- non-black plastic plant pots should be clean and free of soil
- squeezy metal tubes such as tomato puree tubes - should be empty
- squeezy plastic tubes such as toothpaste tubes - should be empty
You can see the full list of what can go in your green recycling bin here.
Delays to deliveries of new food waste caddies
We regret that it has become very difficult to obtain supplies of the caddies that we use to collect food waste for recycling:
Government has required all councils who do not currently collect food waste separately to do so by 1 April (you may be surprised to know that, while Epsom & Ewell has recycled food waste since 2009, there are still many councils that do not).
This has led to a very heavy recent demand for food waste caddies, meaning that delivery times have jumped from a few weeks to several months.
As a result, we have currently run out of food waste caddies, and we are working with other suppliers to try to get supplies in as quickly as possible.
Please bear with us while we work through this situation. At present, we cannot put a timescale on when we will next have supplies, but we are working hard to get them as soon as possible and will update you here.
Please accept our apologies, and our thanks for your patience.
Interruptions to some garden waste collections
We regret that, due to ongoing staff shortages, we have had the following interruptions to garden waste collections in recent weeks:
- Monday 25 May: no garden waste collections on one of our routes. Map of affected roads. Next scheduled collection Monday 8 June.
- Monday 1 June: no garden waste collections on two of our routes - Route 26 and Route 27. Next scheduled collection Monday 15 June.
- Tuesday 2 June: no garden waste collections on one of our routes. Map of affected roads. Next scheduled collection Tuesday 16 June.
- Wednesday 3 June: no garden waste collections on one of our routes. Map of affected roads. Next scheduled collection Wednesday 17 June.
- Thursday 4 June: no garden waste collections on two of our routes - Route 26 and Route 27. Next scheduled collection Thursday 18 June.
We regret that we are unable to return to collect garden waste on the affected roads until your next scheduled collection (see above). We will then also collect any excess garden waste that affected residents may have accumulated in the meantime, if it is bagged and left next to your brown bin (please do not use bags that are larger than your brown bin).
My Council Services
You can report issues relating to refuse and recycling collections, such as missed collections, on our residents' portal, My Council Services.
We recommend registering for an account, which allows us to update you on the progress of your requests. Click here: My Council Services (please ensure you are using either Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox).
Quick guide to recycling
