New black wheeled bins and food caddies will soon start arriving at people’s homes across East Cambridgeshire.

The new bins and caddies are being provided as part of a district wide waste and recycling upgrade, to help people reduce waste and recycle more.

Each household on a standard waste collection will get one new black wheeled bin, which is replacing black sacks. This will be collected every two weeks.  

Residents will also receive a smaller green food caddy to keep somewhere handy in their kitchen and a larger grey caddy with a lockable lid for food waste, to put out every week for collection. We are also providing a year’s worth of caddy liners to help.  

The bins will start to be delivered to households from Monday 30 March. We’ve got 45,000 properties to deliver to, so please bear with us.

All new bins will be delivered in time for the new service to start from 1 June. We’ll update our Facebook pages and website with details of when each town or village can expect to receive their new bins.

Attached to the black bins will be an information pack for residents and a calendar to explain when the new service will start and which bins to put out on which day.

Here are a few things residents need to know now:

Don't use bins or caddy liners yet

Residents are being asked not to use the new bins until the service starts from 1 June. Black wheeled bins and food caddies put out before these dates will not be collected because they require specialised vehicles which won’t start operating until 1 June. The caddy liners cannot be used in your green lidded bins at any time.  We won’t be able to empty your bin if you do.

Check dates

To help make the new rounds more efficient, some residents may experience a change to their collection dates after 1 June 2026. New calendars are provided inside the bins informing residents which day their bins or bags will be collected and which days to put them out. 

The following areas will have a new bin day from 1 June:

• Monday collection - Isleham, Queen Adelaide and Soham Fen 
• Tuesday collection - Aldreth, Bottisham, Coveney, Haddenham, Little Downham, Little Thetford, Lode, Lode Fen, Long Meadow, Mepal, Pymoor, Six Mile Bottom, Stretham, Wilburton 
• Wednesday collection - Burwell, Reach, Swaffham Bulbeck, Swaffham Prior
• Thursday collection - Littleport and Littleport Fen 

All other collection days, including Soham and Ely, remain unchanged.

Cllr Anna Bailey, Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We are really excited to be bringing in this new waste and recycling upgrade.

“Residents will benefit from black wheeled bins – so no more ripped black sacks on the streets - and weekly food waste collections. They will also be able to add soft plastics, such as carrier bags and plastic food wrapping, to blue bin collections and will continue to receive a free garden waste collection.

“We realise there are a lot of changes coming in – and some residents may have to change their bin days - but with your support we really can help create a cleaner, greener East Cambridgeshire.”

There is more information about the new service on our website, including information on how to request additional bins and what to do if you need help moving bins, or if you cannot accommodate the bins. You can also find out what happens to the food waste we are collecting and read recycling hints and tips.

If you still need to speak to someone, contact us via our website or call 01353 665555.