Updating waste and recycling collection routes
Published
Wednesday 8 July, 2026
Updated
Wednesday 8 July, 2026
From Monday, 20 July, Swale Borough Council and our waste contractor SUEZ will introduce updated waste and recycling collection routes to provide a more reliable, efficient service for residents.
By grouping collection rounds closer together, crews can easily support one another on the road.
This smarter way of working helps prevent delays, keeps our vehicles running efficiently, and ensures we deliver the best possible value and service to our communities.
For the vast majority of residents, collection days will stay exactly the same.
However, you may notice crews emptying your bins at a different time of day as they adjust to their new routes.
What you need to know:
- most households (nearly 46,000) will have no change to their collection schedule
- because routes are changing, your bin might be collected earlier or later in the day than you are used to. Please make sure you put your bins out by 5:30 am on your collection day.
- a small number of households (around 2.5% of the borough), primarily in Boughton and Courtenay, Teynham and Lynsted, West Downs, and Queenborough and Halfway, will get a new collection day.
- SUEZ is sending letters via first-class post or hand delivery this week to everyone affected by a day or week change.
- garden waste collections are unaffected by the changes
We know how important consistent bin collections are to you. To make sure these changes go smoothly, SUEZ has put extra support in place for the first month.
They will keep additional staff on standby to help if any rounds fall behind, mix crews so they retain local knowledge of your streets, and place supervisors on the ground to monitor collections.
SUEZ management are also holding appropriate licenses to drive the vehicles themselves if needed.
If you are unsure about your next collection day, you can quickly check your schedule using our bin day tool.
While we have planned extensively to prevent disruption, if a crew does miss your bin, please report it online within two working days.
This is the fastest way to alert our teams and trigger a crew to return.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we work to improve your waste collection service.
