Medway collects rubbish, recycling, and food/garden waste weekly, and you need to put them out by 7am on collection day. The exact container depends on the type of waste you’re putting out.
| Waste type | What to put out | Important notes |
|---|---|---|
| General rubbish | Black rubbish sacks | Put them on the edge of your property or the highway on collection day. Don’t put black sacks inside bins such as dustbins, wheeled bins, or brown bins. |
| Recycling | Blue reusable recycling bags for paper/cardboard items; white reusable bags or clear recycling sacks for bottles, cans, foil, and plastic containers | Medway also provides shared recycling bins for some flats. |
| Garden waste | Brown bin or brown sacks, depending on your property | Brown bins are for garden waste only. Brown sacks are only for garden waste provided by Medway Council. |
| Food waste | Brown bin / food waste bin or caddy, depending on your property | Medway says food waste can go in a brown bin; flats have a separate food waste service from 6 April 2026. |
If you’re putting out food and garden waste, Medway says the containers vary by property: some homes get a brown wheeled bin, while some properties use a 23 litre food waste bin plus two reusable brown sacks for garden waste. Rubbish, recycling, and garden or food waste all follow the same weekly collection day.