Blue Bin Scheme
About The Blue Bin Scheme
Find out your blue bin collection dates using the Bin Collection Dates Form
When the first trial of the blue bin scheme started in December 1994 with 4 trial rounds we never thought it would be the success it has become.
Now the scheme has mushroomed to 43 rounds covering over 98,000 households in all areas of the Borough with collections every 4 weeks. Collections take place Monday to Thursday - dates are available on our Blue Bin Collection Date Form or are listed on a date calendar that can be posted out to you.
If you have not yet received a bin but would like one, please phone the customer contact centre on 0161 342 8355.
We are continually trying to increase the amount of paper and card we collect in Tameside. With 43 rounds currently in place we are hoping to collect over 8,500 tonnes of paper and Cardboard this year.
Assistant Executive Director Ian Saxon said "Our scheme is without doubt one of the best in the country and it is thanks to every householder who has taken and used a blue bin for recycling their waste paper that we are in this position".
We as a council, are committed to reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill sites and this is one initiative that shows we mean business.
"With council's becoming more responsible for the amount of waste they dispose of, recycling becomes an increasingly important aspect of waste management".
What can be put in your blue bin?

- Newspapers
- Cardboard
- Tetra-Pak Cartons
- Magazines
- Junk Mail
- Blue Telephone Directories
- Yellow Pages
- Envelopes (except windowed envelopes)
- Catalogues
- Letters and general paper
- Yellow Pages - yellow pages can now be put into your blue bin
What cannot be put in your blue bin?
- Plastic Wrappers
- General Household Rubbish
The above items will contaminate the load and cannot be processed as part of our scheme. Please use this simple guide and help us maintain the Tameside scheme as the best in the country.
If you know of any abandoned or unused blue bins, please contact us - other people can make use of them and help the borough recycle.
Other Recycling Services Available in Tameside

Brown Bin Scheme
Collections are every two weeks. View the Brown Bin Scheme.
Green Bin Scheme
Collections are every two weeks. View the Green Bin scheme.
Recycling Sites
There are many recycling sites across the Borough dealing with the collection of paper, cans, plastic bottles,glass, textiles and shoes.
For further information on recycling and waste management in Tameside, please contact us.
Report a missed collection, order a new bin or request to have the bin taken away
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Send us a Message |
![]() Recycling Section Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne OL6 6DL |
![]() 0161 342 8355
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![]() 0161 342 2266
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