Recycling
Bicester residents receive fortnightly collections for household recycling and rubbish from Cherwell District Council. So make the most of the opportunities for recycling for Eco Bicester.
Recycling collection
You will have automatically received a blue recycling bin from Cherwell District Council. You can recycle, paper, tins, drinks cans, cardboard, magazines and newspapers as well as plastic bottles and containers in your blue bin. The types of plastic bottles and trays you can recycle are those with a number 1 or 2 on the bottom.
You can also buy a blue wheelie bin, so that you can recycle larger amounts. The bins are provided at a discount price of £18 (including delivery), or £15 if ordered online or picked up in person from the Thorpe Lane depot in Banbury, Environmental Services, Banbury, OX16 4UT, Oxfordshire, 01295 227003.
If you do buy a bin you can also put your blue box out too, so if you have a party or additional guests at home you will be able to recycle more.
You cannot currently recycle glass in your recycling bin because it is not possible to separate glass from the other forms of recycling. However, you can take your glass to one of the local recycling banks.
If you are disabled and unable to put out your bin please call Cherwell District Council, who will arrange to do so for you 01295 221940.
Rubbish collection
You can put out household rubbish in your green bin, which is collected fortnightly by Cherwell District Council. Please ensure that your bin is placed at the edge of your property by 7am on your collection day.
Everything you put in this bin is taken to landfill, so please help save the planet by recycling everything you can. The main things to put in the rubbish bin are those things that cannot be recycled: disposable nappies, cling film, plastic wrap and polystyrene.
Collection calendar
Residents in flats
If you live in a flat in Bicester you will have access to shared bin storage, which will house:
- a blue bin (see above for what can be put in here)
- a brown bin for food and garden waste. You can use a kitchen caddie, supplied by Cherwell District Council to transport your kitchen waste to the communal brown bin
- a green bin is for rubbish that cannot be recycled, which will usually mean disposalble nappies, plastic wrap, polystyrene and clingfilm
- Some places have a black bin too, which is for glass bottles and jars. If you don’t have a black bin collection, but have the space at your flat please let Cherwell District Council know by telephone: 01295 227003. If not, you can use one of the local recycling banks
Blue and brown recycling bins are emptied one week, and the green waste bins are emptied the next.
Food and garden waste collection
You can recycle food and garden waste in the brown bin: all food cooked and uncooked, garden cuttings, pet straw and sawdust, plants, leaves and grass cuttings. Cherwell District Council has supplied each household with a kitchen caddie. The brown bin is collected every two weeks from the kerbside.
You don’t need to wrap your food waste, but if you’d like to you can put your food in a compostable caddy liner or wrap it in newspaper. Kitchen caddy liners can be bought from the Bicester Link Point vending machine.
What happens to your food and garden waste
Bicester residents food and garden waste is collected and taken to a composting plant. It is shredded and put into special tunnels to allow the circulation of air, temperature and moisture so that it breaks down into high quality compost. Once it’s recycled the compost is recycled and used as a natural fertiliser on local farms.
Composting
If you have a garden, you may prefer to make your own compost. See Oxfordshire County Council's page on composting for advice.
Local recycling banks
If you have extra material to recycle, or want to recycle things that are not taken in your fornightly collection there are some recycling points at various locations in Bicester. Enter your postcode in the Recycle Now website to find your nearest brink banks.
Household waste reycling centre
The nearest tip is at Ardley Fields, Brackley Road, Ardley, OX27 7PH. It’s open seven days a week except Christmas. Opening hours and location and recycling A-Z.