Bins and recycling

Each of our waste disposal facilities offer 'general waste'. And we try to put recycling bins at every location we have, but due to logistical reasons such as a location being isolated and rural, it sometimes means we can't get a recycling service there but 98% of our waste is still diverted from landfill. In 2024/25 we spent over £1.7m emptying the bins, skips and dealing with litter, fly-tipping and hazardous waste.

Find out how were recycling more with separate simpler recycling bins

Wheelie bins

In 2021/22 our contractors emptied over 67,000 wheelie bins from customer waste sites at a cost of £750,000.

Skips

We also provided over 1,500 skips for our construction, customer services and volunteering teams throughout 2021/22 at a cost of over £446,000.

Fly tipping

There was over £117,000 spent on clearing away fly tipped waste deposited on our canal towpaths and other property in 2021/22.

Hazardous Waste

£112,000 was spent in 2021/22 on clearing away hazardous waste deposited on our canal towpaths and other property, e.g., televisions, fridges, tyres, fire extinguishers, oil containers etc.

Recycling figures

Recycling figures

We are increasing the amount of waste that is recycled every year. In 2024/25, 98% of waste from customer sites, our offices and worksites was diverted away from landfill which is split between being recycled (88%) and waste to energy (5%).

Our contractors collected 6,832 tonnes of waste in the financial year 2024/25, the below shows how this waste was disposed of:

• Sent to Landfill = 141 tonnes (2%)
• Recycled or Recovered though Waste to Energy = 6,691 tonnes (98%)

We're constantly looking at the services we provide for our customers and waste disposal is no exception. We constantly monitor the services at these sites to make sure they offer our customers what's needed and that they provide value for money for the Trust.

We're dedicated to recycling more and we aim to increase the amount of recycling points available on our waterways with our Green Plan.