Bromley bin-day and missed-collection planner
Use this page to check your Bromley collection day, understand Week 1 and Week 2, put the correct box or sack out by 7am, and know when a missed collection report is valid.
The guide also explains food waste, black box paper, green box containers, refuse, batteries, flats, garden waste, bulky waste and the official council links at the exact step where you need them.
Quick answer for Bromley waste collection
For a normal house in Bromley, check your exact address first, note the collection day and Week 1 or Week 2, then use the calendar to decide whether Green week or White week items go out. Put containers at the edge of your property by 7am, within arm’s reach of the pavement, but not directly on the pavement.
If you need your next collection day
- Open Bromley’s official collection-day page.
- Enter the exact postcode or address.
- Write down the normal day and whether the property is Week 1 or Week 2.
- Use the Week 1/Week 2 calendar PDF to decide which containers go out.
If your bin or box was not collected
- Check it was out by 7am.
- Check it was at the property edge and reachable.
- Leave it out until 5pm/end of collection day.
- Check delay notices, then report within two working days if it was genuinely missed.
Official Bromley waste services hub
Start here when you are not sure which service you need. Bromley’s official waste hub links to collection-day checking, missed collection reporting, container ordering, garden waste applications, bulky waste booking, household waste collections, recycling sites and waste calendars.
Choose the Bromley waste task you need today
This tool sends the user to the correct type of action instead of making every visitor read the whole article.
PDF calendar audit: Week 1, Week 2, Green week and White week
Bromley’s calendar PDFs are useful, but they are easy to misread. The PDF says the Week 1 and Week 2 calendars show what to put out each week, while the collection-days PDF lists the day and week assigned to each street or address range.
The PDF calendar is for houses only
The Week 1 and Week 2 calendar PDFs state that they are for residents living in houses only because different arrangements apply for flats.
The three PDF rules at the top
Present waste correctly by 7am, keep it contained within arm’s reach of the pavement but not on it, and leave waste out until 5pm before reporting it as missed.
Green week means containers + food
Green week is for tins, cans, glass and plastic containers, plus weekly food waste.
White week means refuse + paper/card + food
White week is for non-recyclable refuse, paper and cardboard, plus weekly food waste.
Put Bromley waste out correctly by 7am
Most collection problems are presentation problems. Bromley says waste must be in the correct containers, securely contained and placed at the edge of the property within arm’s reach of the pavement by 7am.
Use the correct container
Food waste uses the food container, paper/card uses the black box, bottles/cans/glass/rigid plastics use the green box, and non-recyclable refuse uses securely contained black sacks or equivalent.
Place it at the property edge
Put containers at the edge of your property boundary, within arm’s reach of the pavement, but not directly on the pavement.
Keep it visible and reachable
Do not leave containers behind parked cars, locked gates, side passages, hedges, walls or other obstructions. Bromley may not treat this as a missed collection.
Keep paper dry and controlled
Flatten cardboard and cover paper/card on wet or windy days. Bromley says wet paper is still collected, but dry paper has better recycling potential.
Do not use black bags for recycling
Bromley warns black bags may be mistaken for rubbish, especially for recycling containers, small electricals and batteries.
Missed Bromley bin collection: report, wait or fix?
Do not report too early. Bromley says recycling and waste can be collected at different times, so you should leave items out until the end of the day before reporting, and report within two working days.
Food waste: weekly collection, liner rules and smell control
Bromley collects food waste every week. Put the outside food waste container at the edge of the property boundary by 7am. Do not use black bags instead of a container, because the crew may mistake them for rubbish.
Accepted food waste
Fruit, vegetables, peelings, meat, fish, bones, cooked and uncooked food, plate scrapings, leftovers, bread, pasta, cereal, rice, tea bags, coffee grounds, dairy products, eggshells and small amounts of cut flowers in compostable bag or newspaper.
Do not put these in food waste
Plastic film, food wrapping, plastic bags, biodegradable bags, nappies, incontinence pads, pet waste, garden waste or ordinary household waste.
Smells, flies and foxes
Keep caddy and outside container lids closed, lock the outside container, wash containers regularly with hot water, keep them out of direct sun and avoid uncovered pet food.
Liners
Bromley says liners can be bought from supermarkets or local libraries. Only certified compostable bags or paper should be used, not plastic or biodegradable bags.
Black box vs green box: the Bromley sorting rule
Bromley separates paper/card from containers. The black box and green box are not interchangeable, and black bags should not be used instead of either box.
| Container | Put in | Keep out |
|---|---|---|
| Black box | Newspapers, magazines, letters, envelopes, catalogues, phone books, flattened cardboard, cardboard tubes, greeting cards without glitter, and shredded paper inside an envelope, paper bag or cereal box. | Hardback book covers, drink cartons, milk cartons and Tetra Paks. These go another route, not the black paper box. |
| Green box | Drink cans, aerosol cans, tins, foil, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, trays, yoghurt pots, ice-cream tubs, margarine tubs, Tetra Paks, plastic tubes, aluminium tubes and plastic plant pots. | Black plastic, plastic bags, plastic film, toys, crisp packets, Pyrex, drinking glasses, crockery, broken glass, window glass and polystyrene. |
| Soft plastics | Take to larger supermarket soft-plastic recycling points where available. | Do not put plastic film, carrier bags, bubble wrap, crisp packets or similar packaging in Bromley’s green recycling box. |
Non-recyclable refuse: what belongs in black sacks?
Bromley collects non-recyclable refuse every other week. It must be securely contained and placed at the edge of the property by 7am. Do not use the refuse stream for recyclable, bulky, garden, construction, electrical, battery or textile waste.
| Allowed refuse examples | Do not add | Why this matters |
|---|---|---|
| Waste not included in Bromley’s recycling service, pet waste, nappies and incontinence pads, double-bagged where needed. | Paper, cans, glass, plastic containers and food waste that Bromley collects separately. | Recyclable material should use the correct weekly or fortnightly collection stream. |
| Plastic film, plastic bags, plastic toys and polystyrene where no recycling option is available. | Garden waste, large bulky items, construction waste, textiles, batteries or electricals. | These can cause refusal, contamination, fire risk or need a different service. |
| Carefully wrapped glass and cooled cooking oil/fat in a sealed container. | Liquid oil poured loose, sharps, hazardous waste or clinical waste. | Liquids, sharps and hazardous waste create handling and health risks. |
Batteries, vapes and small electricals: fire-risk section from the PDF
The Bromley calendar PDF warns: no batteries in black bags and no batteries or small electrical items in the rubbish bin. The reason is simple: batteries can cause fires when damaged or crushed.
Household batteries
Bromley collects separately bagged and loosely tied household batteries, lithium batteries, mobile phone batteries, button batteries, toy/game batteries and smoke detector batteries.
Small electrical items
Accepted kerbside small electrical examples include irons, toasters, electric toys and games, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players and vapes.
Do not use black bags
Leave the bag by your green or black box. Bromley says not to use black bags because they may be mistaken for rubbish.
Large electricals need another route
Fridges, washing machines, microwaves, vacuum cleaners and printers are not small-electrical bag items. Use bulky waste, retailer take-back or recycling-centre routes.
Flats, flats above shops and managing agents
Do not use the house calendar blindly if you live in a flat. Bromley says most residents in flats have a borough-wide waste collection service, flats above shops have different arrangements, and managing agents or landlords must provide suitable waste and recycling storage.
Most flats
Use the block’s communal bins and signage. Many flats can recycle food waste, plastic/cans/glass and other streams, but the container type may differ from houses.
Flats above shops
Bromley says flats above shops have different waste collection arrangements. Check the official page before using a house calendar or kerbside assumptions.
Managing agents and landlords
They should provide appropriate waste facilities and make sure residents know how to dispose of waste and recycling correctly.
Repeated contamination
If communal bins are repeatedly contaminated, the fix is often better labels, enough capacity, better access and resident communication, not only another missed-bin report.
Garden waste: subscription, sacks or recycling centre?
Bromley’s paid green garden waste wheelie bin service currently lists £80 for 12 months. It provides a 240 litre wheelie bin, fortnightly collections during the March to November gardening season, and monthly collections during the remaining three months.
Accepted in garden waste bin
Grass cuttings, leaves, prunings, hedge trimmings, small branches and twigs. Bromley says garden waste can go directly in the wheelie bin without bags or sacks.
Not accepted
Rubble, soil, food waste, household waste, flower pots, garden furniture, plastic items, tree trunks and large branches are not accepted in the garden waste wheelie bin.
Access can stop the service
The bin must be visible and easily accessible. Crews may not move fully laden bins over gravel paths or multiple steps.
Other routes
If you only have occasional garden waste, check home composting, green garden waste sacks, weekend green garden waste sites, Churchfields Road or Waldo Road routes before subscribing.
Bulky waste: minimum charge, concession and cancellation traps
Bulky waste is separate from normal refuse. Bromley says you can donate items, take them to reuse and recycling centres, ask a retailer to remove old items when delivering new goods, or use the chargeable bulky disposal service.
Minimum charge
Bromley currently lists a £43 minimum household bulky waste charge. The final cost depends on the number and type of items.
Concession
If you receive Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, Bromley says one free collection up to £43 within a 12 month period may be available, with proof required. Costs above £43 remain chargeable.
Collection window
Items should be outside at the front of the property from 7am on collection day, easily accessible, but not on the public highway.
Reference numbers
If paying by card, Bromley says to note both the unique booking reference and the payment reference.
| Example item | Current household price list example | Micro-check before booking |
|---|---|---|
| 3 piece suite / upholstered corner sofa | £61.76 | Book the sofa type exactly. Upholstered seating may have special handling. |
| 2 or 3 seater sofa / futon | £32.15 | Extra chairs, pouffes and loose items may count separately. |
| Mattress, single/double/king | £13.67 | Mattress, base and headboard can be separate items. |
| Washing machine | £30.94 | Ask retailer about take-back if buying a replacement. |
Why Bromley waste is often not collected
Use this checklist before reporting a missed collection or ordering extra containers.
- The container was not out by 7am.
- The container was behind a locked gate, parked car, hedge, wall or side access.
- Waste was placed directly on the pavement instead of at the property edge.
- The wrong week was used: Green week items went out on White week, or refuse/paper went out on Green week.
- Black bags were used for recycling, food waste, batteries or small electricals.
- Paper/card was wet, loose, unflattened or likely to blow away.
- The green box contained plastic film, carrier bags, Pyrex, crockery, broken glass, polystyrene or toys.
- Refuse contained garden waste, bulky waste, construction waste, batteries, electricals or textiles.
- Bulky items were not booked, were changed too late, or were put on the public highway.
Helpful related WasteCollection.org guides
These are included only where they help the same visitor task. Sitemap fetch was not available in this environment, so these were checked through live search results rather than claimed as sitemap-confirmed.
Use this if you need wider help with sofas, mattresses, fridges, retailer take-back or private waste-carrier checks.
Useful comparison if you manage properties across south London or near a borough boundary.
Official Bromley links for final actions
Use these official links only after reading the relevant step above. They are placed here for final action, not as a random link dump.
Main official hub for collection days, missed bins, containers, calendars, garden waste and bulky waste.
Use this to check your next collection by postcode or address.
Download Week 1, Week 2 and collection-days PDFs.
Official 7am presentation, container, missed-collection and specialised-waste rules.
Current subscription cost, access rules, accepted items and collection frequency.
Book bulky waste, check concession rules, collection window, payment references and cancellation terms.
Bromley waste collection FAQs
How do I check my Bromley bin collection day?
What time should I put waste out in Bromley?
Should Bromley bins be placed on the pavement?
When can I report a missed Bromley collection?
What is Green week in Bromley?
What is White week in Bromley?
What goes in Bromley food waste?
What goes in the Bromley black box?
What goes in the Bromley green box?
Can I put batteries or vapes in my Bromley rubbish bin?
How much is Bromley garden waste collection?
How much is Bromley bulky waste collection?
Information checked and update note
Information was refreshed on 3 July 2026 using official London Borough of Bromley pages, Bromley collection calendar PDFs, Bromley bulky/garden waste pages and live WasteCollection.org search results. Collection days, bank holiday changes, route delays, container rules, garden waste fees and bulky waste charges can change, so always use the official links above before reporting, paying or putting out extra waste.