Birmingham City Council collect recycling from domestic properties on the same day once a fortnight. There are different collection days across Selly Oak, with Bournbrook being every Wednesday for instance. To check when your collection day is enter your postcode or address here.
Doorstep Recycling Collections
Birmingham City Council currently offers 3 doorstep recycling schemes:
- Recycling wheelie bin – collecting mixed recycling and paper (via a pod)
- If you live on a road with no wheelie bin collection – Blue box- Paper and card, every fortnight.
- Clear sack – Garden waste, on alternate weeks to the above. These are chargeable.
Your recycling is collected every two weeks on the same day as your refuse, with recycling one week and the clear garden waste sack collected the other week.
Please do not put your garden waste sacks out for collection at the same time as the boxes (unless told otherwise).
If you are unsure about when your collection weeks are, go to Collection Schedules on the Birmingham City Council website.
What can be recycled:
Do’s, dont’s and Frequently Asked Questions
– How much waste does Birmingham recycle?
– Where should I recycle household batteries?
The Household Recycling Centres have a dedicated box for household batteries. Alternatively shops such as Currys and PC World will take them back. By early 2010 all shops that supply household batteries will be required by law to provide a recycling point.
– Where does all my recycling go?
The paper and card goes to the Smurfit Kappa mill at Nechells and is made into cardboard boxes. The glass/cans/plastic bottles currently go to a plant in Four Ashes, Wolverhampton. There are very few Material Recycling Facilities (MRF) that sort by machine, but it means we can take mixed materials without sorting them at the kerbside, which is costly and time consuming. The garden waste goes to composting facilities near the city and is composted on a large scale to be used for agricultural and landscaping purposes. This is why we cannot take anything in the green sacks that isn’t compostable.
A 40 litre bag of Care Compost made by composting green garden waste collected in Birmingham and the West Midlands can be purchased from either Gravelly Lane Garden Centre, Erdington B23 6UJ (0121 448 0776) or Martineal Gardens, Priory Road, Edgbaston B5 7UG (0121 440 7430).
– Where can I get a bag for my green waste?
Green waste collection is a chargeable service – Check here
– I missed my recycling collection, where can I take my recycling now?
Glass, paper and cans can be taken to your nearest Local Recycling Centre or Household Recycling Centre or hold onto it for another two weeks until your next collection – only if you don’t have a wheelie bin.
– I have more recycling than there is space in my wheelie bin
You can bundle up the newspapers/paper together – suitable contained and leave them next to the wheelie bin to avoid them blowing around.
– Why can’t all plastics be recycled?
Because they are a different type of plastic to the bottles and cannot be recycled at present. There are many different types of plastics and they don’t all melt down at the same temperature. Plastic tubs often still have residues of food on them which can contaminate the process.
– Where does the rubbish go, is it land filled?
Birmingham currently estimates that in terms of waste; 30% is food, 12% paper, 10% is dense plastics, 7% plastic film, 6% organic waste, 3% textiles, 4% nappies, 8% card and 16% other. Currently sending 7.5% of waste to landfill (2016 figures), which BCC aim to reduce to 0% by 2035 (sourced from the Waste Strategy)
The Energy from Waste plant at Tyseley is used to burn some rubbish – converting the energy into electricity.
– Why am I asked to squash the cans and plastic bottles?
Flattened bottles and cans take up less space in your wheelie bin and also the recycling truck. Plastic bottles take up huge amounts of space. The best way to squash them is to squeeze them and then put the lids back on to keep them in shape.
– Can I recycle orange juice or other cartons?
At the moment there are only banks at the five Household Recycling Centres.
– What should I do if my wheelie bin gets stolen/damaged?
You can use the link on the Refuse Collection page and we will arrange for a replacement to be sent out to you.
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