How quickly can you deliver bags and start commercial bag collection in London?

24 to 48 hours from cleared payment is typical. Same-day starts are possible in most London postcodes if you order before 12:00 noon. We hold General Waste and DMR bags in our own in-house stock, so there is no print-run delay and no waiting for a delivery slot.

What if my business hours do not match standard waste collection windows?

We offer AM and PM collection windows, seven days a week, Saturdays and Sundays included. If those do not fit your shift (late-night kitchens, early-morning bakeries, evening-only retail), we either agree a fixed slot that works or you present bags in your agreed area before or after we arrive. We work the collection around your operational rhythm.

Commercial bag collection, London

Commercial waste bags in London, pre-paid and collected daily

Commercial waste bags for London businesses: pre-paid general waste and dry mixed recycling sacks, delivered from our own stock within 24 to 48 hours and collected daily, several times a week or weekly.

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250+ active customers

4.8 / 5 Trustpilot, verified reviews

98% landfill diversion

Licensed Waste Carrier, CBDU466346

Bags from in-house stock

On this page

Trade waste bags for general waste and dry mixed recycling
How much does commercial bag collection cost?
Daily commercial bag collection in London

By the numbers

Commercial bag collection in numbers

The numbers from our London accounts: bags from stock, scheduled lifts and the paperwork on every collection.

250+

Active customers

24-48h

First bags delivered after payment clears

98%

Landfill diversion rate

4.8 / 5

Trustpilot, verified reviews

Who we collect from

Which businesses use commercial waste bags

If your bag-collection contractor missed collections, locked you into a multi-year deal, or treated your extra-collection requests like a courtesy, you are the customer we designed this service for.

Hotels and hospitality

Daily bag collections of 20 to 50 bags, discreet collection windows, weekend cover, with mattresses and refurbishment waste handled through wait and load. See hotel waste collection.

Serviced apartments and aparthotels

20 to 40 bags a day at each building, several buildings on one contract, collected seven days a week where needed. See waste collection for serviced apartments.

Production, kitchens, prep sites

Heavier daily volumes, with an optional pallet add-on for delivery leftovers and refurb residue.

Offices and co-working

General Waste plus DMR recycling, scheduled around occupancy patterns and refuse-day calendars.

Cafes, restaurants, takeaways

High-frequency daily collections, predictable schedule, busy-period extras handled with a phone call.

Retail, convenience, boutiques

Cardboard-heavy DMR plus general bag, single or multi-site groups.

What we take in a bag

Trade waste bags for general waste and dry mixed recycling

Our trade waste bags are 140-litre sacks, 16 × 29 × 36 inches, with a 5 kg weight limit printed on each one. General waste and recycling sacks are the same size. They come in rolls of 25, every order is two rolls, and repeat orders ship from our own stock.

GENERAL WASTE

What goes in the General Waste bag

Food packaging and food-contaminated paper or card
Soft plastics, cling film, polystyrene
Mixed non-recyclable waste
Disposable cups, food containers, takeaway packaging
Anything that cannot go into recycling

DRY MIXED RECYCLING

What goes in the DMR bag

Clean cardboard and paper (no food residue)
Plastic bottles and containers (rinsed)
Metal cans (food and drink)
Aluminium foil and trays (clean)
Mixed clean recyclables, sorted during sorting, not by you

Glass is a separate stream. Simpler Recycling treats glass as a dry recyclable and asks you to separate materials the way your collector instructs. Ours is to keep glass out of the DMR bag and collect it in a dedicated bin of its own. Drinking glasses, window glass, light bulbs and crockery are not container glass, and broken glass contaminates a whole recycling load. That is our collection arrangement rather than a rule of law. Cafes, bars and takeaways need the dedicated stream as a matter of course. Ask us for a glass quote alongside your bag service.

Sanitary and offensive waste (used hygiene products, nappies, incontinence pads from commercial bathrooms) is a separate licensed stream and must be collected by a dedicated offensive-waste provider in yellow or black sanitary bins. We do not take it in our bags, but we can refer you to a specialist partner if you do not have one set up.

Plasterboard, hazardous waste and WEEE must be segregated and are handled via our Construction Waste and Wait and Load services.

DMR contamination above 5% can be reclassified as General Waste during sorting, so keep DMR bags clean to keep your recycling rate.

Occasional pallet? If a delivery comes in and the pallet stays behind, your bag-route driver can take it for £10 + VAT, with no separate booking and no minimum trip charge.

Pricing, published and volume-tiered

How much does commercial bag collection cost?

We charge from £1.50 + VAT a bag at 1,000 or more bags a week, up to £2.20 + VAT a bag for general waste under 10 a week. Recycling bags cost 10p less in every band except the top one. Delivery on a collection day, collection, transport and disposal are in the price; the annual waste transfer note is a separate service, shown in your quote.

The tiles are the price. Find your weekly bag count and both rates are on it, general waste and dry mixed recycling. Tell us your volume in the form and we confirm your band within hours.

Per bag, plus VAT. Hover or tap your weekly volume. Recycling bags are 10p less than general waste in every band except the top one.

Bag prices by weekly volume, plus VAT
Bags per week	General waste	Dry mixed recycling
1,000 and over	£1.50 + VAT	£1.50 + VAT
500 to 999	£1.60 + VAT	£1.50 + VAT
200 to 499	£1.70 + VAT	£1.60 + VAT
150 to 199	£1.80 + VAT	£1.70 + VAT
100 to 149	£1.90 + VAT	£1.80 + VAT
50 to 99	£2.00 + VAT	£1.90 + VAT
10 to 49	£2.10 + VAT	£2.00 + VAT
Under 10	£2.20 + VAT	£2.10 + VAT

Bands are set by your committed weekly volume on a 12-month agreement, on one of our routes. Prefer a 1-month rolling option? Add 10% per bag. Free bag delivery (on a collection day), collection, transport and disposal included in the price.

Volumes we have collected at these bands.

25 to 60 bags a day, collected seven days a week.

We serviced a large aparthotel near Tower Bridge, accommodating seasonal changes within the same collection schedule and contract.

20 to 50 bags per daily collection.

We provided daily waste bag collections for a hotel in Kensington and Chelsea.

20 to 40 bags a day at each of two buildings.

We serviced serviced-apartment buildings near Farringdon and Cannon Street.

We plan collections around the council collection windows that apply to your address. Reliability is the standard we hold ourselves to.

How our pricing works

Free bag delivery on a collection day. Collection, transport and disposal are included in the price.
Pay per order. Pay for the bags you order; we deliver and collect them. No bin rental, and no monthly minimum invoice.
Heavy-duty 140-litre sacks with a 5 kg printed weight limit per bag. Excess weight might be charged separately.
Same-day onboarding from in-house stock. Typical industry onboarding is 5 to 10 working days while bags are ordered. We deliver in 24 to 48 hours, sometimes same day.
Volume reviews built in. On a committed schedule, as your weekly volume grows into the next band your per-bag rate steps down, with no renegotiation needed.

Get your custom quote

What's included in the price

What the bag price covers

Free delivery

Bags delivered free, usually within 24 to 48 hours.

Reliable collection

Your waste bags collected on the schedule you need.

Transport and disposal

Taken to our licensed disposal partner, 98% diverted from landfill.

Waste Transfer Note

An annual Duty of Care Waste Transfer Note per waste stream, kept on file for you. Charged separately, shown in your quote.

Recurring, ad-hoc and extras

Daily commercial bag collection in London

Daily accounts are collected seven days a week on our evening and overnight round. In the City of London, businesses can only put waste bags out between 18:00 and 08:00, and the round works inside that window (the rules are in our guide to City of London waste collection times). Outside the City we collect in the time band your council sets for your street, and confirm it for your postcode before the first lift.

RECURRING SCHEDULED

For most customers

Daily, weekly, or any frequency in between, including 2x, 3x or 5x a week
Same time window each collection day
Locked per-bag rate for the term of your agreement
Free bag delivery from in-house stock, typically 24 to 48 hours
Pay per order, Direct Debit recommended for invoices
1 or 12-month service agreement, plain-English terms
Annual Duty of Care Waste Transfer Note service, charged separately and shown in your quote

AD-HOC AND EXTRAS

Built into your account

Need an extra bag pickup before the long weekend? One call.
Single ad-hoc bag batch for businesses without a full schedule
Same-day possible in most postcodes if booked before 12:00
Optional pallet add-on (£10 + VAT) when your bag-route driver is on site
Useful for holiday spikes, pop-up events, post-refurb cleanup

Quote

Share postcode, weekly bag volume, frequency. Quote back same day, often within hours.

Pay

Pay per order, before dispatch. Recurring schedule invoiced monthly, Direct Debit recommended.

Bags delivered

Within 24 to 48 hours of cleared payment, free of charge, from our in-house stock.

Collect

Scheduled lift days, same time window. Optional text or WhatsApp confirmation on collection.

Why 250+ London customers choose us

Why businesses choose Capital Recycle for bag collection

National waste chains can advertise lower headline rates. They typically secure customers with multi-year agreements, lengthy notice periods, and order-then-wait bag delivery cycles of 5 to 10 working days. Our approach is different: bags from in-house stock, plain-English terms, and a service team you can actually reach.

Founder-led service

Routes run seven days a week, the schedule scales with your volume, and the people who plan your round answer the phone.

Same-day from stock

General Waste and DMR bags ready to ship from our in-house stock. No waiting on a print run.

Reliable collections

Turning up on schedule is the whole job, and why our customers stay. Verifiable on Trustpilot and Google.

Extras built in

Extra collection, pop-up event, pallet pickup? Handled with one call, and your agreement stays exactly as it is.

Two terms, your call

A 12-month standard commercial waste contract at the locked rate, or a 1-month rolling option at +10% per bag. Plain-English notice terms either way.

Licensed and insured

Upper Tier Waste Carrier CBDU466346, with £5m Public Liability cover in place for commercial premises.

Customer Story

Case study: daily bag collection for a City sandwich chain

A high-street sandwich chain in central London came to us at 6am on a Monday morning. Their previous bag-collection contractor had missed a collection. Bags were piled on the pavement outside their flagship City of London site. A council inspection was due at 8am.

Their operations lead called from a referral and asked one question: could we be on-site before the inspection?

We were on-site within 90 minutes. Took the bags. Cleared the frontage. Had a daily collection schedule in place by the end of that week.

Years on, still a daily collection, still on schedule.

The point of this story isn’t the emergency response. It’s what happened after. Once they trusted that we’d show up, they stopped thinking about waste collection. That’s the goal of a good service: forgettable, in the best sense. The schedule runs, the bags go, the volume scales as the business grows, and nobody on the team has to chase anything.

Capital Recycle branded bags ready for collection at a central London sandwich chain

“They just turn up and get on with it, exactly what we needed.”
Operations lead · central London sandwich chain

Recent accounts

Bag collections we run in London

A few of the businesses we collect sacks from, to give you an idea of the volumes, the days and what it costs. Names left off; the numbers are the point.

Fashion and uniform house in Hoxton, N1

The problem: their previous collector stopped supplying bags and stopped collecting. What we did: they emailed us marked urgent, and we were collecting within 24 hours, starting with 25 bags. Now general waste and recycling go out every Wednesday and Friday evening, about 25 bags a week. Today we'd charge £2.10 + VAT a general waste bag and £2.00 + VAT a recycling bag at that volume.

Café next to the stadium in Tottenham, N17

The problem: on match and event days the roads around the stadium close, so the collection has to be done before noon. What we do: general waste and recycling twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday, two or three bags a time, timed around the closures. Today we'd charge £2.20 + VAT a general waste bag and £2.10 + VAT a recycling bag at under 10 a week.

Members' club in Camden, NW1

The job: eight to ten bags a week, and in Camden bags can only go out between 18:00 and 08:00. What we do: two evening collections a week, Monday and Wednesday, inside that window. They found us by asking ChatGPT. Today we'd charge £2.20 + VAT a bag at under 10 a week.

Fast-casual food counter in Leyton, E10

The job: seven to sixteen bags of general waste between collections. What we do: two collections a week since December 2024, with bags ordered 100 at a time so they never run out. Today we'd charge £2.10 + VAT a bag at 10 to 49 a week.

Café in Morden, SM4

The job: around ten bags of general waste a week. What we do: two collections a week, Monday and Thursday, about five bags a time, and a new roll of bags sent when they run low. Today we'd charge £2.10 + VAT a bag at 10 to 49 a week.

Nail and beauty salon, SW8

The job: a bag or two of general waste at a time, put out after the salon closes. What we do: collect it on our evening round from the shop front, where they asked us to move the collection point. Today we'd charge £2.20 + VAT a bag at under 10 a week.

Massage and spa in the City, EC1A

The job: a bag or two of general waste and recycling at a time. What we do: it started as the odd collection when they needed one; since September it has been a fixed Monday and Wednesday. Today we'd charge £2.20 + VAT a general waste bag and £2.10 + VAT a recycling bag at under 10 a week.

Vehicle hire firm in Stoke Newington, N16

The job: recycling only, a bag at a time. What we do: dry mixed recycling sacks, collected on a Tuesday, since January 2025. Today we'd charge £2.10 + VAT a recycling bag at under 10 a week.

Aesthetics clinic in Fulham, SW6

The job: about three bags of general waste a week. What we do: one collection a week, on a weekday agreed by phone. Today we'd charge £2.20 + VAT a bag at under 10 a week.

Where we collect

Bag collection areas across London

We run commercial collection routes across central and Greater London, and we cover Watford and the WD postcodes. Weekly, multi-weekly and daily schedules are available; we confirm the day and frequency for your postcode when you enquire. If your postcode is in the grid, we already pass you on a route, so adding your bags is near-zero marginal cost, which means we can hold tight pricing without cutting corners on reliability. If your postcode is not shown, ask anyway; we are always looking to fill route capacity in adjacent areas.

WDWatford HAHarrow UBHillingdon ENEnfield NWCamden WWest SWChelsea ECCity WCCovent Gdn NNorth EEast SESouth-East

Fully licensed, fully insured

Waste transfer notes and licences for bag collection

We are a registered Upper Tier Waste Carrier with full commercial insurance in place. Every recurring customer receives an annual Duty of Care Waste Transfer Note covering each waste stream. Ad-hoc collections receive a single-collection Waste Transfer Note on the day.

Upper Tier Waste Carrier

CBDU466346. Verifiable on the Environment Agency public register.

Public Liability £5m

Full commercial liability cover for all collection activities.

Annual Waste Transfer Note

Issued per waste stream. Satisfies your Duty of Care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Documented service terms

Plain-English contract schedule, available before you sign.

Common questions

Commercial bag collection questions

If your question is not here, call 0207 101 4003 and we will answer it on the phone in plain English.

How quickly can you deliver bags and start service?

24 to 48 hours from cleared payment is typical. Same-day starts are possible in most London postcodes if you order before 12:00. We hold General Waste and DMR bags in our own in-house stock, so there is no print-run delay and no waiting for a delivery slot.

What size are the commercial waste bags?

Each sack is 16 × 29 × 36 inches, which gives a usable capacity of around 140 litres. The printed weight limit is 5 kg per bag. General Waste and Dry Mixed Recycling sacks are the same size.

Do I need to sign a long-term contract?

Two options. A 12-month standard contract at the published per-bag rate, auto-renews for another 12 months unless you give 60 days notice before the renewal date. You can exit earlier with notice; an early-termination fee applies, set out in your contract. We send a reminder 90 days before each renewal so you do not miss the window. Or a 1-month rolling option at +10% per bag. No multi-year tie-ins.

What is the minimum bag volume?

Every order is 50 bags, two rolls of 25. Collection frequency has no minimum: one or two bags a day or a hundred a week, we set a schedule that fits, so you never store bags waiting to reach a threshold. Frequent daily or weekly lifts keep a site tidy without the space a wheelie bin needs.

What does a bag cost?

Priced per bag by your weekly volume, plus VAT, general waste then dry mixed recycling. Under 10 bags a week £2.20 / £2.10 + VAT, 10 to 49 £2.10 / £2.00 + VAT, 50 to 99 £2.00 / £1.90 + VAT, 100 to 149 £1.90 / £1.80 + VAT, 150 to 199 £1.80 / £1.70 + VAT, 200 to 499 £1.70 / £1.60 + VAT, 500 to 999 £1.60 / £1.50 + VAT, and 1,000 and over £1.50 + VAT for both. Recycling bags are 10p cheaper than general waste in every band except the top one. Bands are set by your committed weekly volume on a 12-month agreement on one of our routes; the 1-month rolling option adds 10% per bag. Free bag delivery on a collection day, collection, transport and disposal are included in the price.

What weight can I put in each bag?

5 kg per printed bag is the published limit. Excess weight might be charged separately. If your bags are consistently overweight, we will suggest moving to bin service or upping your collection frequency.

Can I have General Waste and DMR on the same site?

Yes; most multi-stream customers run both. Two-stream setup, scheduled together so it is one collection visit. Each waste stream gets its own annual Duty of Care Waste Transfer Note. Useful for ISO 14001, B Corp, or any FM-side audit asking for stream-level disposal evidence. Glass, cardboard and food waste run as their own streams; the full list is on our commercial waste collection in London page.

Can I get extra bags or extra collections at short notice?

Yes; that is the point of having a single-team, founder-led contact. Extra bags ship same-day from stock; extra collections can usually be added with 24h notice. Holiday weeks, pop-up events, end-of-season cleanups; one call, and your agreement stays exactly as it is.

Do you take occasional pallets if they come in with deliveries?

Yes; when your bag-route driver is already on site, we will take a pallet for £10 + VAT. No separate booking, no minimum call-out charge. Standalone pallet-only bookings are quoted on our Pallet Collection page.

Where should bags be placed for collection?

On a flat, dry surface inside your premises or in your designated waste area. Bags should not be left on the public highway except in agreed presentation windows. If access changes (gate codes, key holders, restricted hours), let us know in writing so we can adjust the route.

What happens if you miss a scheduled collection?

Report any missed collection in writing within 24 hours. We will contact you to arrange the next collection. London traffic, weather and vehicle issues happen; when they do, you reach the people running the round, not a call centre. Most rearrangements happen within 24 hours.

Do you cover central London ULEZ and Congestion Charge zones?

Yes. We run collection routes across central and Greater London. Congestion Charge cost is included in our quoted rates; you will not see surprise zone surcharges on the invoice.

Can I switch to you before my current contract ends?

Yes; it happens often. We can hold a start date until your existing notice period ends, or run alongside your incumbent during a transition. Send us a copy of your current agreement (or describe the terms) and we will advise on the cleanest exit window. Standard advice: serve written notice as soon as the notice clock allows.

How do I pay?

You pay per order. Recurring service is invoiced monthly; Direct Debit is the recommended and lowest-fee payment method. Pre-paid bag bundles (for example 100 bags up front) are payable via Stripe payment link before bag delivery. All invoices show VAT separately. We do not take card details at sign-up; you choose the payment method that suits.

Are bags pre-paid in advance?

Yes; most bag bundles are pre-paid before delivery. This protects both sides: you only pay for what you have ordered, and we do not have to chase invoices for bags already used. Recurring customers have a rolling pre-pay top-up arrangement so bag stock is always ready.

Do you collect cardboard, plasterboard, hazardous waste or WEEE?

Cardboard, yes, in DMR or via our cardboard collection service. Plasterboard, segregated, handled via our Construction Waste service. Hazardous waste, WEEE, fridges and mattresses are separate streams with separate rates; ask for a quote. Sanitary, clinical, hazardous and chemical waste are not our direct service, but as an Upper Tier Waste Carrier we can refer your enquiry to a specialist partner and stay involved as your single point of contact.

How long can I store bags on-site before collection?

Commercial waste bags should sit in your designated waste area, not on the public highway except in agreed presentation windows. Most businesses store 1 to 2 days worth; beyond that, pest, fire and trade-effluent risks accumulate. If your storage space is tight, ask about daily collection on existing routes.

What if my business hours do not match standard collection windows?

We offer AM and PM collection windows, seven days a week, Saturdays and Sundays included. If those do not fit your shift (late-night kitchens, early-morning bakeries, evening-only retail), we will either agree a fixed slot that works or you present bags in your agreed area before or after we arrive. Phone us with your operational rhythm and we work the collection around it.

What types of businesses use the bag service most?

Hotels, serviced apartments and aparthotels, offices, cafes and restaurants, retail, salons and gyms. Any business producing from more than 60 bags per collection down to 5 without space or need for a wheelie bin. Hospitality is the biggest single category; bag service handles peak-day spikes (Friday lunch, weekend service, pop-up events) better than fixed-frequency bin contracts. Cleaning contractors arranging sacks at their clients' offices have a page of their own: waste collection for cleaning companies.

Get a bag collection quote today

Most quotes go out within hours of enquiry. New bags from in-house stock, delivered free, live on your first collection day. No upfront commitment to send us your details; you keep a useful benchmark price either way.

Get a quote in minutes Call 0207 101 4003

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