Households in Haverhill, Suffolk, will see major changes to their bin collections starting in June 2026 as part of a new plan to improve recycling across the county. The update includes the introduction of weekly food waste collections and a new separate bin specifically for paper and cardboard.
Residents will receive two new items for their waste: a small 23-litre food caddy and a larger 240-litre grey bin with a green lid for paper and card. The food waste will be picked up every week. The new green-lidded paper-and-card bin and the existing blue mixed-recycling bin will each be collected once every four weeks, on an alternating schedule (so residents will have a recycling collection every two weeks).
According to West Suffolk Council, the blue bin will now be used for glass bottles, jars, cartons (including Tetra Pak), plastics, metal and other commingled recyclables, allowing residents to recycle glass at the kerbside rather than taking it to bottle banks. The council also confirmed that the black bin for general rubbish will remain on a fortnightly (every two weeks) collection cycle rather than moving to every three weeks.
The new bins will be delivered to homes between February and May 2026 to prepare for the summer start date. Suffolk Recycles says the changes are being made to meet national rules (the government’s Simpler Recycling requirements) and to ensure that paper and card are kept clean so they can be processed more easily.
Household batteries should be recycled using local battery collection points (for example at many supermarkets) or at Suffolk Recycling Centres; residents should check Suffolk Recycles for current guidance rather than putting batteries inside household bins. Visitors to Haverhill’s recycling centre should still book a time slot in advance through the Suffolk Recycling booking system; note that Haverhill’s newer recycling site is on Homefield Road (the previous Chalkstone Way site is no longer the town’s main HWRC).
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
