Recycling - Frequently Asked Questions

• Home
• Environment and Planning
• Rubbish and Recycling Services before September 2008
• Household Recycling
• Recycling - Frequently Asked Questions

Further information about rubbish, waste and recycling in Kingston

You can find more information on the Rubbish, Waste, and Recycling pages. If you cannot find what you are looking for on these pages please contact Waste Management on 020 8547 5560 or email waste.management@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

Green Box

• How do I get a green box?
  

  Request a free green box by contacting Waste Management on 020 8547 5560.

• Can I request an extra green box?
  

  Extra green boxes are a good way to separate your recyclable materials. You can request these at no charge. If you do use extra boxes, please do not mix up the recyclable materials in each box, keep them separated.

• Why can’t more materials be collected in the green box?

  The collection of other materials is not currently financially viable for the Council’s waste management contractor.

• Why can’t you put cardboard in the green box?
  

  Cardboard was removed from the list of Green Box items as it was getting mixed with paper. As a result, the paper could not be used for newsprint and had to be used for low-grade paper.
  
  In the meanwhile, we are increasing the number of recycling points for cardboard. You can recycle cardboard at 15 of the Recycling Points in the borough.

• Why can’t you put shredded paper in the green box?
  

  Once paper is shredded it is not suitable for recycling as new paper.  As an alternative, shredded paper can be used quite effectively as compost or as bedding for pets (e.g. hamsters, rabbits, mice).

• Why isn’t there a lid provided for the green box?

  Supplying lids for the existing green boxes would significantly increase the cost of this service. Providing boxes with lids can also result in the use of boxes for general household storage instead of for recycling.

• Why isn’t the green box recycling collected weekly?
  

  Collection costs would increase significantly if the green box service was collected weekly.

• Can businesses and charities use the green box?

  The Green Box Recycling Service is for household use only. The Council does not offer a waste or recycling collection service to businesses or charities. The yellow pages and internet provide contact details for waste management and recycling contractors in the borough.

Villiers Road Recycling Centre

• Why is it just Villiers Road Recycling Centre that provides facilities to recycle plastic bottles?
  

  Plastic bottles are extremely light and are generally very expensive to collect. Therefore, we only have the one site at Villiers Road to collect plastic bottles. However, we also provide a service for plastic bottles in our Green Box Recycling Service.

Recycling and Rubbish Collections

• Why is there no recycling for flats?
  

  We currently collect recycling from a number of flats throughout the borough. However, we have been unable to extend this service due to set up and collection difficulties. We are undertaking a trial recycling scheme for low-rise and high-rise Council flats which we hope to role out throughout the borough.
  

• Why can I only recycle plastic bottles?
  

  There is a limited market for recycling other plastics so it is not economically viable at present. For more information on recycling plastics go to www.recycle-more.co.uk and select Recycling Specifics, Plastics Recycling - Why Recycle and also Recycling Plastics.

• Why isn’t there a service for recycling batteries?
  

  The Council’s waste management contractor does not currently provide a service for recycling household batteries. See Contacts for Reducing and Recycling (bottom of page) to find out where you can take household batteries. Car batteries can be taken to the Villiers Road Recycling Centre .

• How do I find out my recycling and rubbish collection dates?
  

  You can find out your collection dates by using the Local Information Search on the Council Home Page. Alternatively, contact Waste Management on 020 8547 5560.

• Why doesn’t the Council charge residents who don’t recycle?

  
  Some London boroughs fine residents up to £1000 for refusing to recycle. In Kingston, recycling is not currently offered exclusively to all residents and the service is not yet complete. A fining system may be considered in the future.

Garden waste

• Why doesn’t the Council collect garden waste?
  

  You can compost garden and kitchen waste at home. See the Compost section for more information. Garden waste can also be taken to the Villiers Road Recycling Centre for composting.
  
  The Council also provides a green bag scheme for the collection of household garden waste. See Green Bag Garden Waste for more information.

Kitchen waste

• Why doesn’t the Council provide a kitchen waste collection service?
  

  The council does provide some kitchen waste collections running on a trial period.  The Berrylands Trial area has kitchen waste collected and there has recently been a trial started in some of the Borough's flats.