May Day bank holiday recycling and waste collections

Island residents are being reminded that rubbish and recycling collections will not be affected over the May Day (1 May) bank holiday.

The Isle of Wight Council has confirmed there will be: 

• no change to your waste/recycling collection service for Monday 1 May; 
• no change to all waste and recycling collections due the week commencing 1 May; 
• no change to recycling centres opening hours on Monday 1 May — please book your trip as usual in advance and check opening times;
• no change to reuse and bulky waste collections which will continue as normal.    

We do ask that Monday collection residents place their waste or recycling out early as normal by 7am on 1 May. No matter how you choose to celebrate, please remember to have fun, be safe and keep celebrations green. Here’s our top tips for a sustainable bank holiday weekend: 

Fireworks/disposable barbeques

Be safe and just don’t use them. The risk of fire caused by disposable barbeques and fireworks is high. Pack a picnic instead.

Disposable barbeques can reach 400C and take around four hours to cool down, making them impossible to move, and posing danger to people and the environment.

Use of disposable barbeques has been banned in several local parks and beaches managed by the council. 

Recyclable plates/cups and cutlery

Consider using recyclable cups, paper plates and wooden cutlery that can be reused or recycled easily instead of single use plastic.  

Bottles and cans

Wash and squash any plastic bottles or cans and put them in your recycling bin. Squashing plastic bottles and cans helps free up space making it easier to collect and recycle more.  

Cardboard

Make sure any cardboard placed out for collection is collapsed to fit more in your bin. Our recycling centres will also accept larger boxes of cardboard. You can also bundle excess cardboard to one side of your recycling bin or sack on your recycling week. 

Left-over food waste

Use your food caddie to dispose of any leftover food waste from your celebrations or visit Love Food
Hate Waste for simple recipes to use up your leftovers.