Overview
Bury Council is a waste collection authority. We have a legal duty to collect household waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Collecting household waste helps prevent the build-up of waste which in turn supports public health and community well-being.
We provide the service to all residents across the Bury borough, over 82,000 households.
Key services provided
We collect:
- Non-recyclable waste (grey bins) once every three weeks
- Paper and cardboard (green bins) once every three weeks
- Mixed recycling (blue bins) once every three weeks
- Garden waste and food waste (brown bins) once every two weeks
To help residents with managing their household waste we provide a bin collection calendar and recycling calendar. This tells residents everything they need to know about their bins, how to use them, and when we will empty their bins.
Residents can also check their collection details online and we also offer the option to sign up for bin alerts so that we can send email reminders for each collection and updates if a collection is delayed.
Eligibility/criteria
All residents are eligible for the service, but all residents are responsible for managing their household waste in such a way that enables our collection crews to empty their bins.
Check our bins information for advice.
If you are unable to move your bin to an accessible location at the front of your property, find out about eligibility for our assisted collections.
Service impact
We provide the service to over 82,000 households across the Bury borough.
We empty around 23,000 bins every collection day, that’s 92,000 bins every week and more than 4.7 million bins annually.
Across the year 97% of bins are emptied as scheduled with only 3% of collections missed due to operational issues such as blocked access, severe weather, or an occasional vehicle breakdown.
If we miss a collection, we return as soon possible, usually the next working day.
We have over 53,000 subscribers signed up to our bin alerts (collection reminders and updates) – that’s nearly 59% of all households.
Partnerships/teamwork
Our Waste Management Service works in partnership with Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) which is part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
R4GM also work with local councils in Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford, to inspire and encourage residents of Greater Manchester to manage their waste responsibly, helping residents to see the value of waste and the real benefits that can be achieved by wasting less, recycling more and recycling right.
The GMCA receives funding from a levy on the nine Greater Manchester local authorities. This levy funds the operation of a network of waste and recycling management facilities across Greater Manchester.
The GMCA also work in partnership with SUEZ UK for Greater Manchester’s waste facilities.
Future plans and developments
We currently recycle around 55% of household waste. Our aim is to recycle 60% or more of household waste.
We aim to achieve our goal by providing guidance on how to recycle, and engaging the community with educational campaigns and local initiatives.