We're asking for your input on proposed changes to household recycling, which we must make to comply with new government legislation called 'Simpler Recycling'.
Simpler Recycling legislation sets out how councils in England must collect household recycling. It's therefore important to consider how we can make recycling collections easier for residents and more cost effective.
Our goal is to:
- create a cleaner, greener community
- increase capacity
- reduce litter
- improve safety of our Waste Collection Team
- increase efficiency of recycling collections
We’ve designed a short survey to find out about your recycling habits; your answers will help us make decisions about future recycling collections across the city.
Get involved:
- read the options in our recycling review consultation
- see who should take part in our recycling review consultation
- take part in our recycling review consultation
- virtual and in-person drop-in events
- see more details on the proposals
Options in our recycling review consultation
Over the years, we have started to collect more recyclable materials and York residents are doing a great job wasting less and recycling more; you can now recycle:
- paper and cardboard
- glass and cans
- food and drink cartons
- a range of mixed plastics
There are 2 main options to consider:
- keep the current recycling collections using kerbside boxes
- move to recycling collections using 2 wheeled bins
Recycling collections using wheeled bins
The current recycling collections system which uses 3 kerbside boxes offers around 165 litres of total capacity for all materials.
Moving to 2 wheeled bins for recycling collections, at 240 litres each, would provide more than double capacity for recycling:
- 1 x 240 litre wheeled bin for paper and cardboard
- 1 x 240 litre wheeled bin for plastics, metals, glass and cartons
The increased capacity would allow us to collect each recycling bin every 4 weeks, with household waste collections - and garden waste collections (if subscribed) - continuing every 2 weeks.
We know that many residents would prefer wheeled bins because:
- they are easier to use and provide more capacity
- they reduce the risk of recycling being blown around in windy weather
In addition, wheeled bins are our preferred collection method because they improve health and safety for our Waste Collection Team by:
- reducing manual handling
- helping prevent musculoskeletal injuries
Note that, providing 1 bin for all recycling materials is not possible under current government guidance, which recommends that paper and cardboard should not be collected mixed with glass. By collecting paper and cardboard separately (as we already do) we avoid small pieces of glass contaminating the paper, so it can be recycled more easily and it's considered a high quality material, from which we receive income (via sale of recyclable materials to manufacturers for reprocessing).
Taking part in the recycling review consultation
All residents across 21 wards are invited to take part in the recycling review consultation.
However, if your recycling is collected by St Nicks, or if you received a household waste bin in 2025/26 through the 'Bags to Bins' scheme, you don't need to take part in this survey, as we're not currently considering wheeled recycling bins for your area, and you will see no change.
If you live in a flat, apartment, or other property with communal collections, you don't need to participate, as you're likely already using wheeled bins for recycling collections.
Online recycling review consultation
There are about 15 multiple choice questions for you to answer in the recycling review consultation, related to your waste collections and type of property you live in.
At the end of the survey, there’s a short section where we ask some questions about you; answering these questions will help us build a picture of recycling behaviours across York.
Take part in the recycling review consultation
Residents can complete the survey between 23 of March and 1 May 2026.
If you're unable to take part in the recycling review consultation online, you can call our customer services team on telephone: 01904 551551 and request that a paper survey be sent out to you.
Paper copies will also be available at your local Explore Library.
For alternative formats, including braille and large print, contact the CYC Access team on email: cycaccessteam@york.gov.uk, or telephone: 01904 551551.
Virtual and in-person drop-in events
You can have your say at one of our virtual or in-person events:
- Thursday 2 April, midday to 2.00pm - St Nicholas Church, Church Street, Dunnington, YO19 5PW
- Thursday 9 April, midday to 2.00pm - Bishopthorpe Village Hall, Main Street, Bishopthorpe, YO23 2RA
- Monday 13 April, 11.00am to 1.00pm - Clifton Explore, Rawcliffe Drive, YO30 6NS
- Tuesday 14 April, 5.00pm to 6.00pm - online via Microsoft Teams
- Monday 20 April, 5.00pm to 6.30pm - St Barnabas Church, Jubilee Terrace, Leeman Road, YO26 4YZ
- Friday 24 April, 10.00am to midday - Door 84, Lowther Street, The Groves, YO31 7LX
More details on proposal for recycling wheelie bins
If your recycling is collected by St. Nicks the proposed change to wheeled bins would not affect you.
If your household waste is collected in black sacks we would be unable to provide recycling bins to your household at this time.
If recycling collections move to using 2 wheeled bins, each would be collected once every 4 weeks, alternating between blue lid (paper and cardboard) and red lid (plastic, cans and glass).
You can keep using our Waste collection Calendar to check your collection dates.
A typical collection cycle could be:
- week 1 - household waste
- week 2 - paper and card (blue lid)
- week 3 - household waste
- week 4 - plastic, cans and glass (red lid)
The following would apply to recycling collection if there is a move to using 2 wheeled bins:
- You'd receive 2 black wheeled bins, each with a different coloured lid; 1 blue for paper and cardboard, and 1 red for plastic, metals, glass and cartons.
- Each wheeled bin would be 240 litre capacity (greater than the current total 165 litre box capacity for 3 boxes).
- You'd be expected to store the bins off the public highway, depending on your property layout, this may be your front garden, forecourt, or back yard.
- We wouldn't take away your existing boxes; you'd be welcome to keep them for storage, or take them to either Hazel Court HWRC or Towthorpe/Strensall HWRC for disposal.
- On your collection day wheeled bins are usually collected from the front of your property. However, if your household waste bin is currently collected from a central collection point, your recycling bins would also be collected from the same location. If you currently have an assisted waste collection recycling bins would be collected from the same location as your household waste.
- If you have more recycling than would fit in wheeled bins, small amounts of 'excess recycling' would be permitted, for example, oversize boxes that don't fit in the bin.
- In relation to the increased capacity provided by wheeled bins, if an individual bin was missed during the collection, we wouldn't return to empty it (unless you have an assisted waste collection) - but, you'd be able to put out excess recycling at your next scheduled collection if your bins became full before then.
- We would replace any recycling bins damaged by our Waste Collection Team free of charge - if a recycling bin was otherwise damaged, or lost or stolen, you'd be charged for replacements, see: replacement waste containers.