Council Bulky Waste Collection charge 2021

Junk Diaries

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Comparison of council bulky item collection price across England in 2021

How does the council bulky waste collection price differ across England? How does your council stack up against your neighbours and is it great value or a bit pricey?

Our team of dedicated researchers at LoveJunk has reviewed the cost of a bulky waste collection of every local authority in England (Wales and Scotland, we promise to analyse yours soon!) in 2021. Comparing the price charged to remove a single bulky item (eg. sofa, mattress or fridge) and also a combination of three items.

The chart shows how the collection price for a single bulk item varies across the 300+ councils.

The average collection price in 2021 is £28. 

source: LoveJunk 2021

Note: as you can see, some councils tend to charge a little more for fridges (compared to a sofa or mattress) because it is Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) which typically costs a little more to dispose of.

CHEAPEST RUBBISH CLEARANCE

Most Expensive Councils to remove a Sofa

Here are the 10 local authorities that charge the most to remove a sofa. The most expensive of which is Richmond in London. The South West of England is notable for featuring quite highly in this list and may reflect the local costs of disposal in that region being a little higher than other parts of the country.

Council	Region	Cost to remove sofa
Richmond upon Thames	London	£62
Mendip	South West	£60
Sedgemoor	South West	£60
South Somerset	South West	£60
Taunton Deane	South West	£60
West Somerset	South West	£60
Eastleigh	South East	£60
Central Bedfordshire	East	£58
Wokingham	South East	£56
Tonbridge and Malling	South East	£55

Most Expensive Councils to remove 3 item Combo

Below are the top 10 local authorities that charge the most to remove 3 bulky items.

The pickup cost ranges from £95 to an impressive £138.  Arun council is the 'winner', charging a total of £139 to remove and dispose of a fridge, mattress and sofa.

Local authority	Region	Cost to remove Combo
Arun	South East	£138
Eastleigh	South East	£128
Brighton and Hove	South East	£108
Central Bedfordshire	East	£103
Bromley	London	£104
East Hampshire	South East	£99
Reading	South East	£98
Three Rivers	East	£96
North Somerset	South West	£95
Lewes	South East	£95

And, here they all are shown on a map which highlights how these more expensive local authorities are located in the South of England.

CHEAPEST RUBBISH CLEARANCE

Free Council Bulky Waste collection in England

For a lucky few, your council will remove up to 3 bulky junk items completely free of charge.

Local authority	Region	Combo
Hyndburn	North West	Free
Leicester	East Midlands	Free
Liverpool	North West	Free
Manchester	North West	Free
North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	Free
Nottingham*	East Midlands	Free
Pendle	North West	Free
Redbridge	London	Free
Tower Hamlets	London	Free
Waltham Forest*	London	Free
Wigan	North West	Free

* do not collect fridges

Note: Leicester, Manchester, North Lincolnshire, Pendle, Waltham Forest and Wigan have all made their services free this year - in 2020 it was a paid-for service.

Cheapest Council Bulky Waste Collection Price

Close behind the free councils are the following 9 local authorities in England who each offer a great value for money bulky waste service:

Local authority	Region	Combo
Barrow-in-Furness	North West	£10
Barking & Dagenham	London	£10
Redcar and Cleveland	North East	£10
Sunderland	North East	£10
Walsall	West Midlands	£10
Basildon	East	£10
West Lancashire	North West	£13
Burnley	North West	£14
Cotswold	South West	£14

And then joint 10th are Hinckley and Bosworth, Ribble Valley, Slough and Northampton, who only charge £15 for the collection of three items.

CHEAPEST RUBBISH REMOVAL

Councils NOT offering a bulky waste service

Slightly bizarrely there are three councils in England that do not offer a bulky waste collection service for residents at all. These are the City of Lincoln, Scarborough and Tendring. Their reason is that it costs too much to provide such a service, but surely they should offer one and charge enough to cover their costs?

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