What goes in my recycling and rubbish bins or bags?

Organic waste bins (brown bins and sacks)

To ensure fair access to food and garden waste service, we can only provide one type of waste container configuration to a property dependent on eligibility.

They are one brown wheeled bin, or 2 brown reusable sacks with one 23 litre food waste bin.

Combinations of the 2 options cannot be provided.

As of 2 June 2025, we no longer collect any extra garden waste that does not fit into your brown bin. If you regularly have more garden waste, you can:

If your property is suitable for a brown bin

Most houses set back from the highway in Medway can have a brown bin.

If you have room to store a bin and can safely present it on the public highway, you may have a brown bin.

If you have subscribed to the garden waste subscription service and have additional permitted brown bins, you must only use these bins for garden waste.

If your property is not suitable for a brown bin

Some properties cannot safely store or leave out a brown bin.

In this case, you may have a 23 litre food waste bin and 2 reusable brown sacks for any garden waste instead. Food must not be put in these reusable bags.

If you cannot safely move a wheeled bin to the boundary of your property for collection, you can request 2 reusable brown sacks and one food waste bin as a replacement. This is under the condition that your wheeled bin is given back when the replacements are delivered.

We'll only collect garden waste in brown sacks provided by Medway Council.

Order your free brown sacks.

Assisted collections

If you're unable to put your rubbish out through illness, infirmity or disability, you can request an assisted bin collection.  

Request an assisted collection

Brown bins and food waste

Brown bins are for garden and food waste only. Do not place your black sacks in your brown bin on collection day.

Find out more about recyling food waste.

If you live in a flat

Garden waste

If you live in a flat and have a private garden that you maintain, you can apply for a brown bin through our garden waste subscription service.

Find out more about the garden waste subscription service

Food waste

From 6 April 2026, there will be a food waste collection service for flats.

Find out more about the food waste collection service for flats.

Additional brown bins

Properties are allocated one brown bin. This allows our collection crews to effectively plan for quantities of waste they will collect and dispose of during their round.

In Medway, all waste is collected weekly. This is twice the frequency of most other local councils. 

As of 2 June 2025, we no longer collect any extra garden waste that does not fit into your brown bin. If you regularly have more garden waste, you can:

If Medway Council-issued brown reusable sacks are left out alongside a brown wheeled bin at a property, our crews will remove the reusable brown sacks.

Reusable brown sacks can be reissued to the property upon request. This is under the condition that any brown wheeled bin at the property is given back at the time of delivery.

If you have 2 brown bins

Our crews are instructed to collect one brown bin per household per week. This has been Medway Council and contractor policy since 2013.

If you have previously had 2 bins collected per week, you have been receiving an additional service that had not been authorised. We regret that this is not a service that we are able to endorse or maintain. 

Since 13 May 2025, we offer a new optional garden waste subscription service which allows you to have additional brown bins. If you subscribe to this service, you can have up to 3 additional brown bins collected.

If you do not subscribe to the service and still have 2 bins, you may leave them out for collection on alternate weeks to ensure they are emptied regularly. If both bins are presented on the same week only one will be emptied.