We work hard to keep streets and lanes clear of litter. To help with this we tell residents:
- how to manage their waste
- put the right things in the right bins
- reduce waste
- recycle more
If you don't manage your waste correctly you might receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of up to £400.
Legal notice
This is set out under Section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
This notice requires you as the occupier to:
- place household waste from the property inside the allocated Council container for collection
- place appropriate contents in the correct container for recycling, non-recycling or garden waste
- follow the requirements in the schedule
Schedule
1. The green, brown or grey containers provided to you by the Council, must be:
- displayed at the normal kerbside location for collection
- displayed no earlier than 6.30pm the night before your collection day
- displayed no later than 6.30am on the day of collection
- returned to their usual storage location before midnight on collection day
- stored off any public pavements and roads
Your collection day can be checked on Check your bin day.
2. Your green recycling container must only contain:
Loose recyclable materials and the following recyclables:
- newspapers, magazines, junk mail, printer paper and envelopes
- cardboard boxes, cardboard packaging (e.g. cereal boxes) and greeting cards
- phone directories, catalogues and yellow pages
- rinsed plastic bottles, yogurt pots and margarine tubs
- rinsed food and drink cans
- rinsed aluminium foil containers
- empty aerosol cans with lids removed
- rinsed glass bottles and jars
3. Your brown container must only be used for household waste that cannot be recycled.
4. Your grey container must only contain the following garden waste:
- grass cuttings, flower, hedge and shrub trimmings
- leaf and plant matter such as weeds
- sticks and twigs up to 7cm in width
5. Your containers are for household waste only.
6. You must not place extra bags or waste next to or on the containers. Excess waste not within containers will be considered to be littering or fly tipping.
7. Any item which is too large to fit into the containers allocated to the property must be either:
- taken to a recycling centre
- collected by a registered waste carrier
8. Any excess or bulky waste items must be stored on your property until:
- the day of removal by yourself
- collection by a registered waste carrier
Visit the Environment Agency to check if a person is a registered as a waste carrier.
If you don't manage your waste correctly you might receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of up to £400.
Section 46 notice
This is a legal notice that lets you know the rules around managing your household waste in Plymouth. It tells you what to put in each container and how to present your waste for collection. All residents must follow Section 46, Environmental Protection Act, 1990.
The notice explains things like:
- where to present your waste for collection
- what to do with your waste containers between collection days
- how much waste you should present for collection
Received a notice
It doesn't mean you've necessarily done something wrong. It could be that there is an issue in your street or nearby. So some properties are sent the notice as a reminder to manage waste correctly.
What to do
Read the notice to check you haven't been doing something wrong by mistake. If residents do not manage their waste according to the notice they may be issued with:
- A Littering FPN (£150) – issued for small amounts of bagged or loose household waste.
- A Fly Tipping FPN (£400) - issued for large amounts of bagged waste or bulky items left out without collection
You can find out more on our Environmental Crime page.