Recycling in schools

We offer a competitively priced recycling collection service to all Barnet schools. This helps schools to recycle a wide range of recyclable materials as well as garden waste.

Free education sessions at EcoPark House, Edmonton

The council works closely with the North London Waste Authority on managing Barnet’s recycling and waste. The North London Waste Authority offers free educational sessions to students and visitors on waste management, the circular economy, and waste prevention at the EcoPark in Edmonton. See the link below for more information:

Free education sessions at EcoPark House | NLWA

Schools - waste regulation changes March 2025

New legislation for schools waste

From 31 March 2025, new waste regulations under the Environment Act 2021, known as Simpler Recycling, will come into effect.

Under the new regulations businesses (including schools) must separate their dry recycling and food waste.

Under the new regulations, schools must now separate their waste into three bins: general waste, recycling and food waste, and must use a licensed waste carrier for collections.

Please email us at csi@barnet.gov.uk to discuss your requirements to comply with the new regulations.

Mixed recycling

We offer a weekly mixed recycling collection.  We can provide a range of bin containers from 240 litre bins up to 1100 litre sized bins to make recycling school waste even easier.

The following recycling materials can be put in our mixed recycling bins:

• cardboard
• mixed paper
• mixed glass bottles and jars
• cartons
• food tins, drink cans, clean foil and aerosols
• plastic bottles
• plastic packaging, including yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and food trays

Green garden waste

We offer fortnightly garden waste collections to all schools in the borough who have a contract with us for their refuse and/or recycling services. For us to carry out garden waste collections, bins must be presented outside the gates on the public highway on your collection day.

The following materials can be placed in the green garden waste bin:

• grass cuttings
• hedge trimmings and tree prunings
• branches up to 20 cm in diameter (8 inches) and under 60 cm (24 inches) in length
• flowers
• leaves
• weeds

More details on bin options and sizes

Benefits of our service

We offer competitively priced services and are happy to visit your school free of charge and offer help and advice about waste storage and disposal.

Our services include:

• no hidden costs such as charges per kilo for overweight bins, bin rental charges or duty of care service charges. Many private collectors apply one or all of these on top of the price they initially quote
• we don’t charge to supply you with the bins, schools are required to pay for collections only
• should you get a better priced quote from another waste collector, please contact us as we will aim to better the offer

Contact us

Please email us at csi@barnet.gov.uk if you are interested in this service.