Housing and accommodation

Waste disposal

Rubbish collections

Portsmouth's residents have their rubbish collected every week. You can put your rubbish in black sacks or small dustbins (not wheelie bins), but you’ll have to provide these yourself. You need to put out your rubbish by 7.00am on your collection day. If you’re not an early riser you can put it out the night before (but no earlier than 7.00pm). You should put your rubbish at the boundary where your property meets the pavement.

If you live in a flat or another type of communal residence you will be served by a communal rubbish collection. You need to put your rubbish in the big wheeled bins that you’ll find in your bin storage area. You can put your rubbish down a chute if you have one. Communal rubbish bins are emptied at least once a week. Please remember that you cannot dispose of large and bulky items or any garden waste through your normal rubbish collection.

To help keep your streets clean, remember:

  • Only put out rubbish on your scheduled collection day, or after 7.00pm the night before. Do not put it out on any other day. If you do you’ll be breaking the law.
  • Use sturdy sacks and make sure that you tie them up securely.
  • Double wrap anything sharp or items that may attract animals.
  • If you miss your collection day take your rubbish off the street and store it until your next scheduled collection day, or you can dispose of it at the Portsmouth Recycling Centre.
  • If you do put your rubbish out on time but it does not get collected, you should contact Portsmouth City Council on 023 9283 4092 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.

The rubbish collection crews cannot take the following:

  • garden waste
  • sharp or jagged materials (unless they’re well wrapped)
  • bulky rubbish such as large electrical appliances and furniture
  • soil, rubble or asbestos
  • fazardous household waste (including fluids like paint, garden chemicals, drain cleaner and lubricants)
  • car batteries and gas canisters
  • Old bikes or other scrap metal

You’ll have to dispose of these items yourself at the Portsmouth Recycling Centre in Port Solent, or alternatively you could arrange a Bulky Rubbish Collection (but not for hazardous wastes) via Portsmouth City Council.

Recycling

All households in Portsmouth can recycle from home. All you have to do is a bit of sorting. If everyone in the city puts in a little effort it can make a big impact on the waste problem in Portsmouth. Please note that Portsmouth residents have their recycling collected on a fortnightly basis.

What can be recycled?

You can recycle the following items from your house or flat:

  • newspapers, magazines, scrap paper, envelopes and catalogues
  • card (such as cereal packets) and cardboard packaging
  • food and drinks cans
  • plastic bottles (any type e.g. drinks or detergent)
  • cans any food or drinks cans
  • aerosol cans
  • Yellow Pages

What can’t be recycled at home?

  • glass
  • polystyrene
  • margarine tubs
  • yoghurt pots
  • plastic food trays
  • other plastics (plastic that's not a bottle)
  • aluminium foil
  • cling film
  • bulky metal items

It is important that you only recycle particular things through your recycling collection. Just because an item displays the recycling triangle doesn’t mean it can be recycled at present.

Contacts

Portsmouth City Council
Waste Management
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
PO1 2AZ

T: 023 9283 4092
E: cityhelpdesk@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
W: www.portsmouth.gov.uk/waste/waste