Kerbside recycling in West Dorset

Collections are once every 14 days on the same day as your refuse collection. Search to find out when your next collection is.

Find your next scheduled kerbside recycling collection date

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View the Kerbside recycling calendar 2013/14 (pdf, 239kb) (opens in a new window)

Recycling service

You are provided with:

A box for cans, aerosols and glass
A bag for mixed paper and cardboard
A battery bag for household batteries

Each year you will receive a leaflet explaining how the scheme works and a calendar showing your collection dates.

What can you put in your bag?

Please put in - mixed papers including newspapers, magazines, junk mail, office paper, brochures, catalogues, telephone directories, envelopes, Yellow Pages, greetings cards, cereal packets and cardboard.

Please do not put in - non-paper products.

What can you put in your box?

Please put in - glass bottles and jars (any colour), food tins, drink cans and aerosol cans.

Please do not put in - window glass, Pyrex, drinking glasses, any type of plastic bottle, container or bag.

Please put your battery bag on top of your box for collection.

Further information

Bags and boxes need to be put out by 7.30am in the same place as your rubbish. They should be clearly visible and where the access to your property meets the public highway.

Getting a recycling box or bag

To get your recycling box and bag please call our customer service team on 01305 251010 or collect them from one of the locations below:

Tourist information centres at Sherborne and Lyme Regis
District council offices at Bridport, Sherborne or Dorchester
Town council offices at Beaminster and Chickerell

Green recycling bags and battery bags are available from:

Tourist information centres at Sherborne, Lyme Regis and Dorchester
District council offices at Bridport, Sherborne or Dorchester
Town council offices at Beaminster and Chickerell

Extra boxes are available from the council for £5. Additional bags are available free of charge. We are unable to provide replacement lids or dividers.

If the box and bag are not large enough, recyclables can be placed in a similar rigid plastic container next to your box and bag. It is important to ensure that bags are boldly labelled as 'recycling' to ensure they are not collected as refuse. If in doubt please contact us to get advice and inform the collection team.

Flats and communal refuse stores

If you have a communal refuse area, you will receive a set of boxes and bags in each refuse store. These are to remain in each storage area. An information booklet will be made available to you. As with refuse, please take recycling to the store for collection. Recycling should be put in the boxes and bags provided. Extra containers are available on request. If you do not have a set of boxes in your communal bin store please contact us.

What should you do about plastics?

We provide collection banks situated around the district for collecting plastic bottles only. Please visit the recycling bank pages listed below.

Plastic packaging, including bottles, is lightweight and bulky which makes it extremely costly to collect and transport to reprocessors, especially in a sparsely populated rural district. In fact carbon dioxide (CO2) a known greenhouse gas, is released from transport emissions and can undo the benefits of recycling. Kerbside recycling vehicles have a limited capacity. If we filled these vehicles with bulky plastic bottles it would inevitably mean additional trips to the waste facility.

Recycling banks

Materials not included in the kerbside scheme can be taken to one of West Dorset's mini-recycling centres or your nearest household recycling centre.

The council supports the work of Whitfield Activities Centre. The centre provides meaningful voluntary work for people with mental health problems re-engaging with work. The centre also provides people with the opportunity to socialise and regain confidence. Foil is collected and sorted by Whitfield volunteers. Almost all recycling sites now have foil banks.

Waste - a joined up approach
West Dorset residents are currently recycling nearly a third of their waste using the kerbside recycling service and recycling sites. This is a fantastic effort but we want to increase that amount. The kerbside recycling service now covers 100% of the district, bringing recycling to the doorstep to encourage everyone to do their bit for the environment.
What happens to our recycling?
After our recycling is collected it is sent away to be made into new products, for details see below. The money generated is used to help provide the kerbside collection service.
Food waste recycling scheme and bin bag collection changes for Sherborne area
We now collect food waste from households in Sherborne and surrounding villages.