What to do when you move in

If you don’t have bins you can order these here: Order wheeled bins and sacks | Milton Keynes City Council or call Customer Services at 01908 252570 .

For communal bins in flats, you will need to contact your developer or housing manager—they must arrange the bins and collections.

What happens on collection day and when is it? 

Milton Keynes calendar 2025/26

Individual bins:

To ensure your rubbish and recycling can be safely and easily collected please:

• Place your waste and recycling on the boundary of your property by 7.00am on your collection day, closest to where the collection vehicle passes.
• Don’t put out your waste and recycling earlier than 5.00pm the day before your collection day.
• Your bins or sacks (if you have been allocated recycling sacks) should be put at the boundary of your property, or a point agreed by a waste officer.
• If your property has been allocated sacks, tie up all rubbish and recycling bags.
• Rinse out any food and drink containers before you put them into the blue bin or blue recycling sack.
• Breakdown cardboard and place it inside the red lid bin or red recycling sack. If it is too big please take to your local Recycling Centre.
• If you are on a wheelie bin collection, don’t put loose items, or sacks out for collection, as it won’t be collected.
• If your wheelie bins or recycling sacks contain the wrong items, it may not be collected.

Communal bins:

Your bins will be collected and return to the bin store to ensure your rubbish and recycling can be easily and safely collected please:

• Please put all waste in the bins. If there is waste next to the bins it will not be collected and could block access to the communal bins.
• Do not put place bulky waste in bin stores, this will not be collected and is classed as fly tipping.
• Only put recycling in the recycling bins, if the wrong waste is put in the bins they won’t be collected. 

Collection vehicles

There are three different vehicles that collect waste from your property:

• one for your black wheelie bin (for waste that can't be recycled);
• another for your recycling bin, either blue or red depending on the week (blue for glass, metal and plastic, red for paper and cardboard);
• a third for your green wheelie bin or 23l caddy (for food and garden waste).

What goes in each bin

A to Z of recycling in Milton Keynes | Milton Keynes City Council

Red Lid Bin / Red Sack (Paper & Cardboard)

• Newspapers, magazines, leaflets
• Cardboard boxes (including clean pizza boxes)
• Envelopes (including windowed)

Blue Lid Bin / Blue Sack (Plastic, Metal & Cartons)

• Plastic bottles and containers
• Food and drink cans
• Tetra Pak-style cartons

Green Bin / 23L Caddy (Food & Garden Waste)

• Fruit and vegetable peelings
• Grass cuttings and leaves
• Cooked and raw food scraps

Black Bin / Black Bag / Communal Black Bin (General Waste)

• Nappies and sanitary products
• Broken toys and ceramics
• Non-recyclable packaging

Pink Lid Communal Bin (Mixed Recycling – Flats Only)

• Paper and cardboard
• Plastic bottles and tubs
• Metal cans

Yellow Bag (Batteries)

• Household batteries (AA, AAA, etc.)
• Button batteries
• Rechargeable batteries

For more information please go to: What goes in each bin/sack? | Milton Keynes City Council

Missed collections

Before you report a missed collection

Please note that black bin/sack waste is now collected in a different vehicle to red and blue bin/sack recycling. This helps to prevent contamination so more rubbish can be recycled. Your bins or sacks will be picked up at different times on the same day.

Please check the following before reporting a missed collection of rubbish and/or recycling:

• Was your rubbish and recycling placed at the edge of your property by 7.00am on your collection day?
• Are there any incorrect items in your recycling containers?
• Please check our Facebook or Twitter accounts to see if is a delay in collections due to inclement weather or disruption to service.

You have a 48 hour window to report a missed collection to us, after this period we will not return until the next scheduled bin collection day.

Report a missed collection | Milton Keynes City Council

Common issues that prevent collections

• Grinning bins- This is when the bin has been over filled and the lid doesn’t close.
• Top hatted bin- This is when waste has been put on top of the bin.
• Excess waste- This is when waste has been put beside of the bin.
• Contamination- This is when the wrong waste has been put into bins. 

Bulky waste and recycling centres

When moving into a new property you may have a lot of bulky waste and packaging that doesn’t fit into your bins. For this type of waste, you can: 

Drop off large items at Household Recycling Centres (by appointment):

• Bleak Hall – Chesney Wold, MK6 1NE
• New Bradwell – Newport Road, MK13 0AH
• Newport Pagnell – North Crawley Road, MK16 9HG 

Or arrange a bulky waste collection. 

How to dispose of household items and bulky waste | Milton Keynes City Council

 

Special Waste Services

Clinical waste & sharps collection 

MK City Council provides a free of charge collection of clinical waste from domestic properties, on behalf of the local community health trust.

Request clinical waste collection | Milton Keynes City Council

Assisted collections 

If you have a disability or medical condition and there is nobody else in your household who can put your bags and bins out, you may be eligible for an assisted collection. 

We can arrange for our collection crew to collect your bags and bins from just outside your front door instead of the boundary.

Request an assisted collection | Milton Keynes City Council

Additional green bin subscriptions (from May 2025) 

To apply for an addition green bin please visit: Subscribe to additional green bin collections | Milton Keynes City Council

 

Contact Us

• Email: customerservices@milton‑keynes.gov.uk
• Phone: 01908 252570