Bexley Rubbish Collection Guide: Bin Days, Bulky Waste, the Tip and When to Go Private

When are bin collection days in Bexley and Bexleyheath?

Bexleyheath does not have its own bin rules. It is part of the London Borough of Bexley (the council's Civic Offices are at 2 Watling Street, Bexleyheath), so every street in the borough uses the same bins and the same fortnightly pattern. The quickest way to find your day is the council's online waste service, WasteWorks, at waste.bexley.gov.uk. Enter your address and it shows your bin days. From the same page you can report a missed bin, request or remove a bin, subscribe to garden waste and book a bulky collection.

The borough runs on two alternating calendars, Schedule 1 and Schedule 2. Each week is either a Blue collection week (paper and card, plus general rubbish) or a White collection week (plastics, cans and glass, plus garden waste for subscribers). In the week of 19 October 2026, for example, Schedule 1 was a White week and Schedule 2 was a Blue week. That example comes from a third-party site copying the council calendar, so treat WasteWorks as the final word for your address. If you have just moved to Bexleyheath or anywhere else in the borough, look up your schedule before your first collection rather than copying a neighbour on another street.

What goes in each Bexley bin, and what won't the council take?

Crews will not empty the wrong colour bin or a bin with the wrong waste in it, so sorting matters more than it looks. This is what each container takes, based on the council's own guidance.

The bigger issue for most households is what the council will not take at the kerb. Anything left outside or around the bins is not collected, including bulky items and bags of extra rubbish or recycling. The only extra recycling allowed is flattened cardboard boxes no bigger than half a square metre, and nothing extra is allowed with garden waste. Business waste cannot go in household bins at all: the council's policy says mixing business waste with household waste is an offence. One third-party guide also says an overfilled bin with its lid open may be left unemptied, so if the lid will not close, the surplus needs another route.

Does Bexley Council collect bulky waste, and how much does it cost?

Yes. Bexley's bulky waste service takes furniture such as sofas, beds and tables, washing machines, cookers, other appliances and DIY waste. Since 2025 it has been booked through WasteWorks, where you can see the available slots before you commit. Prices work on a points system: the more items you book and the bigger they are, the higher the total. There are separate prices for state pension recipients and for Saturday collections.

The council route is usually good value for one or two items when you can wait for a slot. It is less suited to a houseful of furniture or a mixed load of bulky items, bags and garden waste, because the price climbs with every item and garden waste is a separate service. For bigger jobs, see furniture removal in Bexley and sofa removal in Bexley, or read our London-wide comparison of council versus private bulky waste collection.

Can I get extra rubbish collected in Bexley?

Yes, for a fee, but not by leaving it next to your bin. Bexley offers a paid extra rubbish collection for up to six sacks or one wheeled bin's worth. The council's policy confirms that limit and says the collection happens within two working days of payment (Policy 6d). Third-party sites put the price at £40, paid by card only, and one says extra collections are capped at five per household per calendar year. We could not confirm the price on a council page, so check it when you book.

If your bin is too small week after week rather than just once, the council has a staged process before it will give you more capacity.

For a one-off surge, such as a clear-out, a party or a house move, compare the cost per load. Six sacks for around £40 suits a small overflow. A garage, loft or shed clear-out can easily run past six sacks, and then a single private collection may make more sense than several paid council visits, especially if the yearly cap applies.

Bexley garden waste: brown bin subscription or one-off removal?

Bexley's garden waste collection is a paid subscription. One brown bin costs £87 a year, or £82 by Direct Debit, for fortnightly emptying, which comes to 25 collections with a break at Christmas (council price, checked October 2026). That works out at roughly £3.30 to £3.50 a collection. You can add up to four extra bins at £67 each. Garden bins are emptied in the White collection week.

One third-party site says the current price runs until 31 March 2027 and that a new subscription starts 14 days after you sign up, so do not leave it until the week of a big tidy. If you cancel or do not renew, the council takes the brown bin away (Policy 3a). Nothing extra is collected alongside the bin, so bags of cuttings left beside it stay where they are. Our guide to council garden waste collection in south London covers the subscription model in more depth.

If you have a large garden job coming up, such as clearing a neglected plot before selling or letting, see garden waste removal in Bexley for how to describe the load so carriers can bid on it accurately.

Where is the tip in Bexley, and do you need to book?

Bexley has two free reuse and recycling centres for residents, at Foots Cray and Thames Road. You do not need to book either, but expect queues at weekends and on bank holidays. Foots Cray is the site for cars and people on foot. Vans and larger trailers go to the Thames Road Transfer Station, which has a weighbridge.

Foots Cray is strict about who can use it. Only Bexley residents are allowed, copies of ID are not accepted, and the resident must be in the vehicle. Vans and twin-axle trailers are turned away. Staff record your address, vehicle and type of waste, and may check that the waste is not from a business.

The fair use terms mention allowances for DIY waste, rubble and plasterboard, but we could not confirm the limits, so check before you load up building waste. Just before the Foots Cray entrance is the separate Community Reuse Shop, which sells donated items such as refurbished bikes and furniture. From 18 June 2026 it opens six days a week and closes on Wednesdays.

Missed bin or rubbish left after moving out: what should you do?

Moving out creates the classic overflow problem: more rubbish than the bins can take, and a deadline. Bags left beside the bins will not be collected, so plan the clear-out before the last week. Tenants can book a paid extra collection or a bulky collection, and at the recycling centre the tenant counts as the resident, not the landlord, whoever pays the council tax.

For letting agents, the practical step is to agree who is clearing what before the keys come back. Anything the outgoing tenant removes is household waste and can use the council routes; anything left behind for the landlord to deal with is commercial and needs a licensed carrier or a business account at Thames Road.

When is a private waste carrier a better option than the council?

For one or two bulky items, or a handful of extra sacks, the council is hard to beat on price if you can wait for a slot. A private carrier tends to make more sense when the job is bigger, more mixed, or does not fit the council's rules.

For context, across RubbishBids jobs from 14 April to 9 September 2026 there were 181 bids across 83 jobs. The median bid was £200 and the middle half of bids fell between £150 and £250. On jobs with two or more bids, the median spread between the lowest and highest bid was 50%, which is why comparing bids on the same job is worth doing. These figures cover all jobs on the platform in that window, not just Bexley, and any bid depends on the load, access and waste type.

To compare bids on your own load, post photos and your postcode on our Bexley rubbish removal page. EA-licensed carriers bid, you choose the one you want, and only the carrier you select gets your contact details.

How do you check a Bexley rubbish removal company is licensed?

Whoever you pay to take rubbish away should be a licensed waste carrier. Bexley's own Thames Road site asks businesses to show a waste carrier's licence before they tip, and that is the same document you should ask any rubbish removal company in Bexley or Bexleyheath to show you.