Recycling gets easier for Central Bedfordshire residents
Monday, 9 February 2026
Recycling in Central Bedfordshire is about to get a whole lot easier.
From 30 March 2026, residents will be able to recycle glass bottles and jars straight from home, while new weekly food waste collections for flats mean even more households can take part. These improvements also respond directly to what residents have told us about recycling, and we're pleased to be delivering changes that make everyday recycling easier than ever.
Together, the changes will help save time, reduce waste and support everyone in playing a part in building a cleaner, greener Central Bedfordshire.
What’s changing?
Place glass bottles and jars in dry recycling collection bin.
Glass bottles and jars can be placed in kerbside dry recycling bins alongside paper, card, cans, tins, aluminium foil, plastic bottles, pots, tubs, trays and cartons. Residents should use the existing bins, with green or orange lids or your orange sack if you have one. If you currently receive a kerbside glass collection using a box, you will need to use your dry recycling bin after 30 March. You can keep the box for your own purpose. We will not remove the boxes.
Broken glass bottles and jars can also be placed in your kerbside recycling bin, if safe to do so. You can wrap broken glass bottles and jars, in paper, or place them in a cardboard box and put them in your recycling bin.
Drinking glasses, Pyrex, light bulbs, mirrors, ceramics and cookware should not be placed in recycling bins; ideally, these should be taken to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) for reuse or disposal. However, if they are broken, they can go in the black bin.
Bin collection day changes
To increase capacity for the new recycling service, we need to make changes to some bin lorry routes. All affected households will receive a letter with plenty of notice and updated collection dates will be published on our website before the changes take effect.
New food waste collections for flats
Some residents living in flats have not always had food waste collections; from the end of March all residents living in flats will receive weekly food waste collections for the first time ensuring everyone across Central Bedfordshire can recycle food waste. Of course, residents living in houses already receive weekly food waste collections.
Food waste caddies and food waste bins for flats will be delivered from late February and throughout March in time for the new collections starting.
Removal of bottle banks
Once the service changes are in place, bottle banks will be removed across Central Bedfordshire. Glass recycling will continue to be available at HWRCs.
Councillor Tracey Wye, our Executive Member for Sustainability and Climate Resilience, said:
This is a major step forward in making recycling simpler and more consistent for residents in accordance with our Waste Strategy. Adding glass to dry recycling bins means no more trips to the bottle bank, while introducing food waste caddies for flats means every household can recycle food waste weekly.
Including glass in recycling collections will increase the volume of material collected, which means additional vehicles are needed. To keep services running efficiently, we therefore need to reorganise some collection rounds.
Our residents have told us that being able to recycle glass through their kerbside collections is really important to them, so we’re pleased to roll out this new service.
Overall, these improvements will help reduce waste and make recycling easier for everyone. Everyone can play their part— each small action combines to create a big difference. Together, we can create a cleaner, greener Central Bedfordshire.