Recycling, rubbish and waste

Allerdale Borough Council encourages its residents and businesses in the area to act responsibly when it comes to storing and disposing of waste.

If your property is not suitable for wheeled bins, a black sack collection service is available. Find out when your bins will be collected using the household waste collection search. Collection times and days can change during holiday periods. View the holiday refuse collection timetable for details.

For special collection of large household items, bulky item collection can be arranged with the Council. Littering and fly-tipping is an unsightly and unhygienic problem. The Council provide street litter bins and a report fly-tipping form is available on the website to help reduce the problem.

We promote waste reduction through education, advice, and practical schemes and encourage residents to participate in recycling schemes operating in their areas. A large majority, some 85%, of residents in Allerdale now have a recycling service from their door for paper/card and garden waste. These properties are provided with a small green bin for paper/card and a larger green bin for garden waste. These bins are collected on alternate weeks. These properties are also provided with a small black bin for their residual waste (waste disposed of at landfill). This service will become the standard method of collection within the borough.

There are still properties within Allerdale that we are not yet able to provide with a recycling service kerbside, these properties therefore remain on the one large green bin for all their waste.

If you are new to the area, and want to find out what facilities are available to you, please email one of our recycling officers on recycling@allerdale.gov.uk or phone on 01900 702800 for help and advice.

There is also a large network of recycling banks in supermarket car parks and other convenient locations within the Borough where residents can take items for recycling. The larger recycling sites have a wide range of facilities, such as paper and card, glass, textiles, cans and plastic bottles. Smaller sites such as those in rural villages have facilities for glass and cans. There are currently in excess of 160 community recycling sites open to the public. To find your nearest community recycling site go to 'where can I recycle'.

The Council also provides some strategically located oil recycling facilities (from motor vehicles) to assist in the protection of the environment. For locations please go to 'where can I recycle'. Alternatively, use the Find my Nearest search on our mapping pages to find recycling facilities near your home, including location maps.

For more information on recycling facilities near you please see our Recycling - Recycling centres page.

For more information see our frequently asked questions page.

Resource Cumbria

Resource Cumbria, the county's strategic waste partnership, has recently developed a strategy for the future of waste management in Cumbria. This Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy is available for download using the related link below.

If you are unable to view or hear the Litterbug video, the transcript is available to view on the video transcripts page.