Recycling and waste services for schools and colleges
Find out what waste and recycling collection services are available for your school or college.
Collections and bins
We can provide schools and colleges with the following weekly collection services and bins. Recycling and refuse collections are both weekly.
Paper and card
- Recycle: Clean and dry paper, card and cardboard, envelopes, junk mail
- Not for: Used paper cups or tissues, dirty paper, plastics and cartons - for example Tetra Paks, anything else
Tips: Larger pieces of cardboard should be broken down until they fit. Alternatively, they can be flattened, tied in a bundle using non-nylon string and placed next to the recycling bin.
Bins
We can provide wheeled paper and cardboard recycling bins and will empty them every week. View details of available bin sizes and hire charges.
Mixed container recycling
Recycle clean and empty:
- Plastics: Bottles, pots, tubs, trays and tubes - for example, toothpaste
- Glass: Bottles and jars
- Metal: Food tins, drink cans, aerosol cans, foil and food trays, lids from jars and bottles, tubes - for example, tomato paste
- Cartons: For example, Tetra Paks
Not for: Any other type of metal, glass, plastic bags, film, plastic cups or products, or any other waste.
Tips: Squash plastic bottles and replace lids after rinsing. This helps fit more in the recycling bin. Include loose metal jar lids, not attached to the jars. Any pump action mechanisms should be removed and placed in your general waste bin.
Bins
We can provide recycling bins for mixed containers and will empty them every week. View details of available bin sizes and hire charges.
Food waste
- Recycle: All solid cooked and raw food waste including plate scrapings, peelings, shells and bones
- Not for: Soup, oil or other liquids, food packaging, plastic bags
Tips: Only use newspaper or biodegradable bags bearing the EN13432 logo to line your food caddy. These can be recycled with your food waste. Alternatively, don’t use a liner and just rinse the caddy after emptying.
Bins
We can provide recycling bins for food waste and bio-plastic bin liners and will empty them every week.
We can also supply smaller food waste boxes to help schools keep food waste separate from other waste and carry it to the main food waste recycling bin. View details of available bin sizes and hire charges.
General waste
- For: General non-hazardous and non-bulky commercial waste
- Not for: Electrical equipment, bulky items, clinical waste, other hazardous waste or industrial waste, for example construction or demolition waste
Bins
We can provide wheeled refuse bins and will empty them every week. View details of available bin sizes, collection and hire charges.
Green waste composting
We can provide wheeled bins or biodegradable sacks for compostable green waste and will collect them every week.
View service details including bin hire charges, collection costs and bio-sack purchase costs - this includes the related collection charge.
Textile recycling for schools
Request a free TRAID textile recycling bank service for your school. Both large metal recycling banks for external usage and small cardboard containers for indoor usage are available.
TRAID have a free educational toolkit for teachers of KS3 and KS4, aiming to encourage education for sustainability. It uses the topic of clothes as a way of encouraging sustainable practices and challenging the throw-away mindset.
Download TRAID Education toolkit.
Bin requirements
Before taking out a contract, make sure you have suitable space for the bins to be located and serviced.
Bins must be accessible for collection at a reasonable and safe distance from road access. There must be a smooth and level route for collection operatives to push bins to where collection vehicles can wait.
We do not collect from locations deemed as unreasonable or inaccessible. If necessary, an officer will visit to assess whether a storage location is suitable or not.
Request collection services
To request schools waste and recycling services, or for further details, email commercialwaste@richmond.gov.uk.
Educational establishments have a legal duty to comply with the waste 'Duty of Care' and observe the 'Waste Hierarchy'.
- Waste Duty of Care code of practice
- Waste Hierarchy guidance
- In addition you can read WRAP's guidance to check how to comply with new Simpler Recycling regulations.
Charges
We do not charge schools for paper and card, mixed container or food recycling collection or disposal costs, we only charge for container hire.
For refuse and garden waste, we charge schools for container hire and collection but not disposal costs. This means that our charges tend to be lower than those quoted by other service providers.
Charges are not subject to VAT.
| Container | Charge |
| 1 x 240 litre | £21 |
| 1 x 360 litre - not available for food or garden waste | £35 |
| 1 x 770 litre - not available for food or garden waste | £70 |
| 1 x 1100 litre - not available for food waste | £102 |
Recycling collection is free of charge.
Refuse collection charges include container hire.
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