Neighbourhood services
In addition to waste collections, our contract with Veolia also covers a range of neighbourhood services. This includes street cleaning, graffiti and fly-tip removal, gully cleaning and winter gritting.
The four SLWP boroughs work together to offer a harmonised recycling and waste collection service to one million residents across Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton.
The colour and type of containers used may vary slightly from borough-to-borough, but what residents can and can’t recycle and the number of bins each property has is the same across the SLWP region. This reduces confusion for residents, maximises recycling rates and improves the efficiency of the service.
There are four key collection service types – the service you receive depends on the type of property you live in:
56% of properties (c.238,000) receive the ‘standard’ kerbside collection service. This is where a household has their own wheelie bins and recycling boxes and they must be presented for collection on a specific day of the week. The service is designed for properties that have sufficient outside space to store wheelie bins and boxes and to present them safely for collection.
26% of properties (c.109,000) receive the communal collection service. This is where a household shares large bins with many neighbouring properties. These bins are usually located in a communal bin store. The service is designed for purpose-built flats and larger blocks of converted flats.
15% of properties (c.63,000) receive the shared bin kerbside collection service. This is where a household shares standard-sized wheelie bins and recycling boxes with a small number of neighbours (typically no more than six). The service is designed for houses that have been converted into flats, houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) and smaller blocks of purpose-built flats, where there isn’t room for larger communal bins.
3% of properties (c.12,000) receive the bag kerbside collection service. This is where households are provided with recycling (and sometime rubbish) bags by their council. These bags must be placed in a pre-agreed location on certain days of the week (and in some locations, certain times of the day). The service is designed for flats above shops and properties that have no outside space to store wheelie bins or recycling boxes.
This harmonised collection service was introduced in 2017 and it has played a key role in helping us to reduce the amount of waste and increase the amount of recycling we collect from households (for details, visit The Waste Challenge page).
Satisfaction and missed collections
In a recent survey*, two-thirds (66%) of residents said they were satisfied with their recycling and waste collection service. 19% were dissatisfied, with the rest (15%) saying they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
The main reason for dissatisfaction with the service was missed collections. This mainly applies to households that use the ‘kerbside collection service’ and the ‘shared bins kerbside collection service’.
We work closely with our collection contractor, Veolia, to monitor missed collection rates and ensure collections are as reliable as possible.
There are lots of reasons why a collection might have been missed or delayed. Sometimes our collection crews are delayed due to unforeseen circumstances such as bad weather, a vehicle breakdown or a road closure – occasionally it may be necessary to reschedule collections for an entire road to the next day.
Sometimes the crews will not empty your bins because they contain the wrong items or have not been presented correctly for collection. For more details, see What is contamination and why is it important? and Presenting your bins correctly on collection day. If this is the case, you will not be able to report a missed collection.
If it’s clear that your property has been missed and your bins were presented correctly, then you should report a missed collection. This can be done quickly and easily via your council website (see links below).
For more details about the recycling and waste collection service in your borough, please visit the relevant section of your council’s website:
Croydon Council
- Check your bin collection day (Croydon Council)
- Report a missed collection (Croydon Council)
- Order a replacement bin or container (Croydon Council)
- General recycling and rubbish collection service information (Croydon Council)
Kingston Council
- Check your bin collection day (Kingston Council)
- Report a missed collection (Kingston Council)
- Order a replacement bin or container (Kingston Council)
- General recycling and rubbish collection service information (Kingston Council)
Merton Council
- Check your bin collection day (Merton Council)
- Report a missed collection (Merton Council)
- Order a replacement bin or container (Merton Council)
- General recycling and rubbish collection service information (Merton Council)
Sutton Council
- Check your bin collection day (Sutton Council)
- Report a missed collection (Sutton Council)
- Order a replacement bin or container (Sutton Council)
- General recycling and rubbish collection service information (Sutton Council)
* Measuring resident perceptions of recycling & waste management 2022, DJS Research
Neighbourhood services
The Waste Hierarchy
Most preferred environmental option
Reducing waste is the most preferred option. Minimising the amount of waste we produce in the first place is by far the most effective way of reducing the impact we have on the environment.
When waste is created, the waste hierarchy prioritises reuse. Where possible, reusing products and materials before it becomes waste is the next best option. By cleaning, repairing and refurbishing items, we can significantly increase the number of things we reuse.
Recycling is the most environmentally sustainable solution when it comes to disposing of waste. Recycling essentially turns our waste into new items or products, reducing the amount of raw materials required.
For waste that can’t be re-used or recycled, energy recovery is the next best option. Energy from waste is the process of incinerating non-recyclable waste to produce electricity. It helps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for power generation and decreases carbon emissions.
At the bottom of the waste hierarchy is the least desirable option: disposal. This is when waste is either sent to landfill or treated in an older-style incinerator that doesn’t recover energy from the process. Disposal should always be the last resort for waste.
Least preferred environmental option
