All households in York have fortnightly recycling collections; watch our video to find out more about the 'York Recycling Journey'.
- Types of recycling collection services
- Recycling boxes for your household
- Check your recycling day
- How we collect recycling
- Missed recycling collections
Types of recycling collection services
Some properties have kerbside recycling collections, with individual recycling boxes. Other properties - such as flats - have communal recycling collections, with larger communal containers.
See further information about our kerbside recycling collections, including advice about what materials we can collect.
In addition to recycling, we collect household waste, and properties in some areas will also receive garden waste collections.
Recycling for flats
If you live in a flat, you may have:
- shared or communal recycling bins (kept outside in a bin store), or
- your own individual recycling boxes
Check what's available to you using our online collection calendar.
Please don't leave bags of recycling next to communal bins.
Recycling with St. Nick's
A few city centre properties have weekly collections by St. Nick's, rather than the council.
St Nicks provide weekly recycling collections in the city centre - check the list of streets for St. Nick's recycling collections.
Contact St Nick's to request a recycling box if you're eligible for their recycling collections.
Recycling boxes for your household
You should present your recycling in recycling boxes, unless you have communal recycling collections.
Households are presented with 3 recycling boxes, with lids, free of charge. You can order additional or replacement waste containers if you find you have more recycling than will fit in these 3 containers.
Our crews may not always be able to collect all boxes presented, due to limited capacity.
Find out what to do if you have excess or additional recycling.
Alternate recycling containers
You may choose to use alternatives to our own recycling containers, if you have excess recycling or do not wish to use the containers issued by us.
You can use your own sturdy, plastic containers to present recycling if you don't wish to order containers from us. However, we recommend that these are marked with your house number or property name so they are not taken away as part of your recycling collection. We cannot be held liable for damage to containers which we have not issued.
Please don't present any recycling in cardboard boxes, as there is a risk that the box containing the recycling may be blown away. Cardboard containers may also be damaged by rain or damp conditions, leading to them falling apart when collection is attempted. They also take up too much space within our vehicles, making them fuller much quicker.
Please don't present paper and cardboard in plastic bags, as we cannot collect paper and cardboard mixed with plastic.
We cannot accept glass in plastic bags, for safety reasons.
Check your recycling day
Use our online waste collection calendar to check:
- your collection dates
- your container types
- the types of waste we collect at your address
You should put your recycling out, at the front edge or your property (unless otherwise stated in the online waste calendar) between 7.00pm on the day before collection, and 7.00am on your collection day. Do not put your recycling out at any other time.
How we collect recycling
Our collection crews work in teams and may split collections between different vehicles. You may experience 2 collections several hours apart.
If you have your own containers for your own household recycling you must still separate your recycling and sort it for collections.
We accept boxes containing mixed plastic, tins, glass and foil.
Paper and cardboard must be kept separate from other materials.
Remember the following when presenting your recycling:
- wash and squash plastics, and crush cans, to save space
- flatten and break up cardboard so that it fits within the recycling box
- ensure glass jars, bottles and foil are rinsed clean and are free from food waste
- do not present broken glass for recycling, dispose of this safely in household waste
- keep paper and cardboard separate from other materials
Our crews may not always be able to collect all boxes presented, due to limited capacity.
Recycling will continue to be fully co-mingled in a few areas, with all recyclables collected together by our crews. These materials are still recycled and you must continue to separate paper and cardboard from other waste materials. This makes it easier for the crews to quickly check for non-recyclable materials.
See further information about what you can recycle at the kerbside.
Find out about how we manage recycling in York.
Missed recycling collections
If your collection has been missed, check our waste collection updates for details of any known service issues.
See details of how we deal with missed recycling collections.
You're also able to take your recycling to one of our household waste recycling centres (HWRC):
