How to get rid of stuff in London

From the editor

André Ribeirinho Editor, JunkSpots London Updated 19 August 2026

What residents need to know

Where things go in London

Every option in this guide, arranged by the thing you are getting rid of. A missing name is not a refusal. It means nobody has told us either way, which is worth asking about before you make the trip.

Everything here starts with a postcode. All 32 boroughs plus the City run their own collections and set their own fees, so before booking a paid one, check whether a charity will collect the same item free.

Boroughs price mattresses separately from other bulky items more often than not, and some refuse them at the kerb entirely. Check your own borough rather than a neighbour's.

A working appliance is usually worth more to a charity than to the council, and several will collect it free. A broken one goes to your borough's reuse and recycling centre.

Household reuse and recycling centres take electricals free, but they are for residents of the borough that runs them. Take proof of address, and check whether yours needs a slot booked ahead.

Charity collection is the strongest route in London for anything wearable, and several will come to the door.

Paint and chemicals are refused by kerbside collections everywhere in London and go to a reuse and recycling centre instead.

The words London uses

These are the terms on the city's own pages. They stay in the local language here for the same reason they do on a form: the English version will not get you to the right page.

borough

London has no single waste service. All 32 boroughs plus the City of London run their own collections, set their own bulky-waste fees and take different things at their recycling centres, so almost every answer here starts with a postcode, and what your friend in the next postcode did may not apply to you.

household reuse and recycling centre

The borough-run tip. They are for residents of the borough that runs them, so take proof of address, and check whether yours needs a slot booked in advance. Paint, chemicals and electricals go here rather than to the kerb.

special collection

GOV.UK's name for the booked council pickup of large items; most boroughs call it bulky waste collection. Enter your postcode on GOV.UK and it sends you to the right council. Expect to pay, a handful include a few free collections a year, and the gap between boroughs is real money.

registered waste carrier

In England anyone who carries waste for money must be registered with the Environment Agency, and the register is public and searchable by business name in under a minute. It proves a company is allowed to carry waste, not what it does with the waste afterwards.

fly-tipping

Illegal dumping, and it is traced back to the householder. If the person you paid dumps your sofa, the fine can land on you, which is the practical reason to check a carrier's registration before you hand anything over.

Things that catch people out

• Before you book a paid council collection, check whether a charity will take the same item free. For anything large and working, that is usually the better call, and it saves the fee.
• Household reuse and recycling centres are for residents of the borough that runs them. Take proof of address, and check whether yours needs a slot booked in advance.
• Rules genuinely differ between neighbouring boroughs. What your friend in the next postcode did may not apply to you.
• Never hand things to an unlicensed van. In England, anyone carrying waste for you must be a registered waste carrier, and you can check them by name on the Environment Agency public register in under a minute.
• Fly-tipping is traced back to the householder. If the person you paid dumps it, the fine can land on you, which is the practical reason to check registration rather than the moral one.

What it costs in London

What each option charges, in its own words, with the date we last read it. We publish no price of our own: a number we typed would go stale before the sentence it came from did.

• Amsterdam 7 options·7 free·Checked 20 Aug 2026
• Barcelona 5 options·4 free·Checked 18 Aug 2026
• Berlin 8 options·5 free·Checked 20 Aug 2026