THIS SECTION 46 NOTICE WILL GO LIVE ON 1st JUNE 2026
The Council has a duty to collect household waste. Part of this duty involves setting standards for residents to understand how waste must be stored and presented for collection.
To do this, we offer a collection of household waste and recycling, along with a subscription garden waste service.
We also 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 have enforcement action taken against you.
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 black, blue, green lidded, brown bins wheelie bins and grey food caddies containers are provided to you by the Council, must be:
- displayed at the normal kerbside location for collection
- displayed no earlier than the night before your collection day
- displayed no later than 6.00am 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 Bin collection days | ipswich.gov.uk
2. Your green lidded 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
- shredded paper
- books (hardback and paperback)
3. Your blue wheelie bin container must only contain:
- rinsed plastic bottles, yogurt pots and margarine tubs
- rinsed food and drink cans
- rinsed aluminium foil containers
- empty aerosol cans
- rinsed glass bottles and jars
- cartons e.g. tetra-paks
- plastic wrappings (e.g. plastic around multipacks and tops of fruit punnets/ meat trays)
- empty food bags (e.g. cereal, pasta, mixed salad, frozen chips/peas)
- plastic pots, tubs, food trays
4. Your grey food caddy container must only contain:
- leftover food, plate scrapings and peelings
- meat and fish (including bones)
- tea bags and coffee grounds
- bread, pasta and rice
- eggshells
- dairy products
- fruit and vegetables
- leftover pet food
5. Your black wheelie bin must only be used for household waste that cannot be recycled.
- Please note, items such as batteries should NOT be placed in any household bins. They should be taken to a supermarket recycling point.
- Small and large electrical items should also NOT be placed in any household bins. These items should be taken to a recycling point or a recycling centre. Please see Suffolk County County website for more information - Recycling centres - Suffolk Recycling
6. Your brown wheelie bin (subscription service) must only contain the following garden waste:
- grass cuttings
- leaves
- light garden prunings
- hedge trimmngs
- untreated wood
- sawdust and pet straw (clean)
- weeds
- dead flowers
- plants
- real christmas trees
- fruit from a tree and vegetables grown in your garden
7. Your containers are for household waste only.
8. You must not place extra bags or waste next to or on the containers. Excess waste not within wheelie bins will be considered to be littering or fly tipping.
9. 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
10. 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 registered as a waste carrier.
Section 46 notice
This is a legal notice that lets you know the rules around managing your household waste in Ipswich. 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, therefore, surrounding 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 have enforcement action taken against them.
You can find out more on our webpage regarding Waste offences | ipswich.gov.uk