The changes to county's bin collections in 2026

This year people across England will face changes to their bin collections as the government introduces new targets for councils as part of a policy.

The government wants to standardise recycling rules across the country, which will mean households will each have four bins from the end of March.

All the councils in Suffolk said they understood the changes might be concerning for some residents, but they were committed to improving collections.

Here is how the changes will affect you depending on where you are in the county.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that "for too long, households in England have been presented with a muddled and confusing patchwork of approaches to bin collections".

In some places across the country, residents had up to seven bins in which to sort their waste and recycling, it said.

From 31 March, councils will be required to collect glass, metal, plastic, paper and card from all households in England as well as food and garden waste.

Defra said this would help it meet its Simpler Recycling policy target to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035.

For those in the Ipswich borough, a weekly food waste collection will be introduced.

As well as this households will be given an extra wheelie bin or container to sort paper and card separately from plastics, metals and cartons as well as glass.

Ipswich Borough Council said households will be provided with four collection services:

• A fortnightly general rubbish collection
• A fortnightly alternate recycling collection for glass, plastics, metal and cartons
• A fortnightly alternate paper and card collection
• A weekly food waste collection

The new service will begin on 1 June, but the council's garden waste chargeable collection service remains the same.

Philip Smart, the council's portfolio holder for environment and transport, said the changes proposed by government were welcomed and would "make it easier for residents to recycle more things from home".

"This new approach is also going to help the environment by reducing the amount of discarded waste while increasing Ipswich's recycling rate," he added.

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils are also making their changes in June, with exact dates to be published nearer the time.

Similar to Ipswich they will introduce a weekly food waste collection service and they will also be accepting extra items such as glass and cartons in the recycling bin.

However they will be moving to a refuse collection every three weeks which both said was "more cost-effective".

Households will be given four bins for the following collections:

• A general rubbish collection every three weeks
• A recycling collection for glass, plastics, metal and cartons every three weeks
• A paper and card collection every three weeks
• A weekly food waste collection

The councils' garden waste collections remains a separate, optional, charged for service with collections continuing fortnightly.

Deborah Saw, the cabinet member for people and place at Babergh District Council, said this was the first major change to collections the council had made since it started separating recyclables more than 20 years ago.

"We know that change on this scale will not be without challenges for some households, but we will work with anyone with exceptional needs on a case-by-case basis, to ensure we are adopting this government legislation in a way that works best for Babergh and its communities," she added.

David Penny, the cabinet member for recycling and waste at Mid Suffolk District Council, said while the council understood the change could be "unsettling", most people "would like to see as much of our waste as possible recycled, instead of incinerated".

"This improved service, including the additional weekly food collections, give us the opportunity to reduce our waste, improve recycling habits, and play a bigger part in the circular economy across Suffolk," he added.

In addition to a brand new weekly food waste collection service, East Suffolk Council will be providing households with a new wheelie bin or container, so paper and card can be separated from plastics, metal, cartons and glass bottles.

In October the council approved spending £350,000 on changing its green garden bin lids to avoid confusion with the new bins for paper and card.

The new bins will be grey, but with a green lid, and the council feared it could cause mix-ups with the green garden bins.

Therefore garden bin lids will eventually change to brown, affecting 50,000 households that are signed up to the garden waste collection service.

It then plans to adopt a waste collection service every three weeks from June rather than its current fortnightly arrangement.

The council said the three-weekly collection would "save an extra 6,500 tonnes of carbon emissions a year".

Paul Ashton, the cabinet member for assets, said the council would "leave no stone unturned to ensure that people understand the new service and how they can increase what they recycle".

"The changes will not only introduce separate food waste collection, which will divert leftovers away from incineration and generate fuel, it will also see kerbside collections of glass and cartons so that these no longer need to be taken to bottle banks and recycling centres," he added.

West Suffolk Council residents will also be able to recycle glass, bottles and jars, cartons from 2026.

A food waste service will also be offered, but the council said more information on the collections would be released in 2026 for residents.

In October 2024 the council voted to not change its general waste collection schedule, which means it will stay a fortnightly service.

It also planned to invest more than £280,000 in extra waste lorries and bins to help meet the government's targets.

David Taylor, the cabinet member for operations, said the changes were "an exciting opportunity for us all to reduce our general waste and increase the amount we recycle".

"To help the transition to the new service, all households will receive further information next year to explain how it will work. We understand that change can be daunting, and we will support West Suffolk residents who require additional assistance," he added.

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