Ipswich bin collections

By Mark Andrews. Checked against Ipswich Borough Council pages on 1 November 2026.

Ipswich lets you pay for garden waste one emptying at a time. Pay and Go is £13.52 a collection, handy if your garden only fills a bin in spring. The black, blue and green-lidded bins take turns on alternating weeks, and food goes every week.

Which bin is which in Ipswich

Blue bin for plastics, films, glass, cartons and cans. Green-lidded bin for paper, card and books. Black bin for everything else. Crews work between 6am and 6pm.

Black General waste Black bin - general rubbishFortnightly
Blue Recycling Blue bin - plastics, films, glass, cartons, cans
Green Paper & card Green-lidded bin - paper, card, books
Grey Food waste Grey food caddy - all food waste, weeklyWeekly
Brown Garden waste Brown bin - garden waste, subscriptionFortnightly

Garden waste: £53 a year

£53 a bin for the year 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, or £26.50 if you only want the fortnightly run from 1 October to the end of March. You can sign up any time. Pay and Go is £13.52 for one emptying, £27.02 for two and £40.53 for three, so it only beats the subscription if you need fewer than four. Change your mind within 14 days and you get a full refund.

Sign up for garden waste collection

Weekly food waste collection

Weekly. You get a kitchen caddy, an outdoor caddy and one free roll of liners.

Report a missed bin

If it hasn't been emptied by 8am the day after your collection day, report it.

Phone
01473 432000

Report a missed bin to Ipswich

Bulky waste collection from £29.41

£29.41 for one item, £59.67 for two to five, £119.37 for six to ten and £179.05 for eleven to fifteen. Some council tax reduction recipients get one free collection a year.

Book a bulky waste collection

Recycling centres in Ipswich

Portman's Walk is the recycling centre in Ipswich.

  • Portman's Walk Recycling Centre

Worth knowing in Ipswich

A replacement bin costs £46.85. Black bins only come in 180 litres, but you can ask for a bigger or smaller blue, brown or green-lidded bin. Frail, elderly or disabled residents can ask for an assisted pull-out on 01473 432000, though you're unlikely to get one if someone else in the house can wheel the bins out.

Get told the night before

Binformation is a free Android app. Put your postcode in once and it sends a notification the evening before each collection, saying which bins are going. If the council moves your day for a bank holiday, the reminder moves with it.

Binformation on Google Play

Where this comes from

Every fact on this page was read from the council's own website, last checked on 1 November 2026. Councils change prices each April, so check the link before you pay for anything.

Linking to this page is fine. Scraping it, or copying the council information in bulk, isn't: see the terms of use.