All accessible properties in Suffolk Coastal receive a
fortnightly brown bin collection service for garden and food waste.
This waste is taken to a multi-million pound composting facility at
Parham where it is turned into a soil improver for use in
agriculture.
Thanks to the Parham facility, your brown bin can be used for
garden waste and all types of food, cooked or raw, shredded paper,
and cardboard.
Your collection day
Your brown bin is emptied fortnightly on your usual collection
day during the weeks highlighted on the refuse and recycling
calendars that are sent out to every home at the begining of the
year. This will be the same day your
blue
lidded bin for recyclable materials is emptied if you have
one.
Your brown bin should be out ready for emptying at 7.30am as
collections start early. Please note that the time of collection
may change at any time, so to avoid missing the collection, always
put your bin out by 7.30am.
If you are not sure of your collection day, or haven't received
a calendar, or have lost your copy, you can look up your next
collection day and download a calendar by following the link
below:
Alternatively, call Suffolk Coastal Services on 01394
444000 or email
scsltd@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
and they will confirm your collection day or send you a new
calendar.
Our waste collection services operate as normal on bank
holidays, except during the Christmas and New Year holiday
period.
What to put in your brown bin
Please use your brown bin for the
following:
- Fruit and vegetables
- Meat, fish and bone scraps
- Eggs and dairy products
- Cereal, bread, pasta and pastry
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Shredded paper
- Kitchen paper towels
- Food packaging such as cereal packets and cardboard egg
boxes
- Cardboard boxes
- Grass cuttings
- Weeds (but not
Japanese Knotweed)
- Straw and hay
- Dead flowers
- Bedding plants
- Leaves
- Light shrub cuttings
- Hedge trimmings
- Sawdust
- Untreated wood chippings
Kitchen food waste can be raw or cooked. We recommend double
wrapping food items in newspaper to stop smells and flies. Please
do not put any of the items listed above in
plastic bags or biodegradable bags in your brown bin as this will
prevent the composting process. Compostable bags can be used, but
they must specifically state on them that they are '100%
compostable'.
Do not put any of the following items in the brown
bin:
- Plastic bags or film
- Cans, tins or foil
- Soil or stones
- Treated wood
- Glass
- Textiles or carpets
- Plastic
- Nappies
- Dog waste
- Branches thicker than 1.5 inches
- Cigarette butts or chewing gum
- Japanese Knotweed
If your brown bin contains any of the items above it
will not be emptied as these items are not suitable for
composting.
Help us to provide the best service possible by following these
guidelines:
- Please remember that collections start at 7.30am.
- Put the brown bin at the boundary of your property where your
access meets the public highway.
- Do not force too much waste into the brown bin as it can stick
inside the bin and prevent it from being emptied.
- Please ensure that the lid can be closed when it is presented
for collection. If the lid is open then the bin will not be
emptied.
- Please take your bin in as soon as you can after
collection.
If the brown bin is not presented in the correct place by 7.30am
on the day of collection, or contains any incorrect items, it will
not be emptied.
If you are unable to push your bin when it is full, for instance
due to infirmity, please contact Suffolk Coastal Services on
01394 444000 to arrange collection of your bin
from a convenient location on your property.
Need a second brown bin?
If you would like a second brown bin they are available for an
annual fee to cover the additional cost of collecting and
processing this additional waste. Call Suffolk Coastal Services on
01394 444000 or email
scsltd@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
for more information.
Home composting
If you find that you have too much garden waste and vegetable
waste to fit in your brown bin why not try
home composting. Home composting is the most
environmentally friendly way to deal with your garden and vegetable
waste.
Alternatively, you can take garden waste to the
household waste recycling centres (new
window) at Foxhall, Felixstowe or Leiston:
- Felixstowe - Carr Road (off the end of Langer
Road).
- Leiston - Lovers Lane (road to Sizewell Power
Station).
- Foxhall - 1 mile west of A12, 1 mile before
Speedway Stadium.
Opening times are:
- 1 November to 31 January - 8am until 4pm.
- 1 February to 31 March - 8am until 5pm.
- 1 April to 30 September - 8am until 6pm.
- 1 October to 31 October - 8am until
5pm.
What happens to the waste collected in the brown bin?
The waste collected in the brown bins is delivered to the 'in
vessel' composting facility at Parham. It is mixed and chopped
before being put in large steel drums which continually rotate to
mix and aerate the waste. This accelerates the composting process
in a controlled environment. The resulting compost is then screened
and pasteurised before being despatched.
Follow this link to find out more about
how waste is composted at Parham (new
window).
The end product is fully compliant with waste disposal
legislation and is high in many essential plant nutrients
desirable to local farmers for crop production and so is an
attractive alternative to artificial fertiliser. It also has the
additional benefit of increasing organic matter in the soil.
Garden waste taken to the household waste recycling centres is
composted at Foxhall landfill site. Follow this link to find out
more about garden waste composting at
Foxhall.