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First Mile comparison

First Mile comparison: Capital Recycle vs First Mile for commercial waste in London

First Mile comparison: Capital Recycle vs First Mile on what a business asks before it signs: where they collect, what containers they supply, how the charges are structured, how fast they start, what the notice terms are, and who issues the paperwork. Every statement about First Mile is taken from its own published pages and dated. We are the other company on this page, so weigh what we say accordingly.
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Who this comparison is for

A business in London with one site, or a handful, that puts out pre-paid sacks or runs one to four wheelie bins. Offices, shops, cafés, salons, clinics, small restaurants. If you run twenty sites across the UK, your question is different and First Mile's national footprint answers it better than we can.

The two companies

First Mile was founded in 2004 and is owned by Warren Equity Partners (acquired December 2024). It states that it supports 35,000 businesses across the UK and Ireland, is B Corp certified, and holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and BS 15713. In London it publishes coverage of all 33 boroughs with up to three collections a day, seven days a week, and describes its service as contract-free. Its own pages: thefirstmile.co.uk (nofollow).
Capital Recycle Ltd is a London commercial waste collector with 250+ active customers, rated ★4.8 on Trustpilot. We collect sacks and bins across central London and the WD postcodes on our caged tippers, start within 24 to 48 hours from sack stock we hold ourselves, and issue the annual Waste Transfer Note for every stream we collect. Upper Tier waste carrier CBDU466346. £5m public liability.

First Mile features and services, side by side

Capital RecycleFirst Mile (as published, read 2 Nov 2026)
London coverageCentral London and the WD postcodes; collection frequency agreed per siteAll 33 boroughs; up to three collections a day, seven days a week, subject to local presentation time bands
SacksPre-paid general waste and mixed recycling sacks, priced per sack by weekly volume; delivered from stock we holdPre-paid general waste and mixed recycling sacks, medium and large, sold in packs
Bins240, 360, 660 and 1100 litre; one fixed monthly figure per bin, no rental line, no environmental levy, no fuel surcharge240, 360, 660 and 1100 litre; charged per scheduled lift, invoiced monthly with rental
Other streamsGlass as a dedicated stream; food as a bagged stream; cardboard by arrangement; specialist streams through one of our partnersGlass sacks and bins; food in a 25 litre caddy or 140 litre bin; cardboard by sticker per flattened bundle or 1100 litre bin; publishes 50+ streams
How to startPhone or form; service starts within 24 to 48 hours; sacks delivered from our own stock, bins delivered on the agreed start dateOnline postcode quote; setup "in a matter of minutes"; sacks delivered in 1 to 3 working days; bins on the selected start date
Term and notice12-month agreement that renews unless you give 60 days' notice before the renewal date, or a rolling monthly option at a higher rate that you can end any month. The agreement is sent before you commitDescribed as contract-free. Published terms (clause 11.1): either party may end the agreement on not less than 90 days' written notice unless otherwise agreed; a six-month collection period renews with each order; an annual renewal fee is defined in the terms
Waste Transfer NoteAnnual WTN Service, £65 + VAT per stream, issued and renewed by usDocumentation included with the sack price, per its pages
Diversion claim98% diversion from landfillZero to landfill as standard
CertificationsUpper Tier carrier CBDU466346; £5m public liabilityB Corp; ISO 9001; ISO 14001; BS 15713
Missed collectionCall 0207 101 4003 and speak to the person who runs the roundCustomer portal: Report an Issue, then Report missed collection; 24/7 portal, phone and live chat; publishes a 99.96% collection success rate
Changing a bin or a frequencyLike-for-like bin swap on 24 hours' notice, no crossover periodThrough the portal or account team, per its pages
Public reviewsTrustpilot ★4.8Trustpilot and Google, linked in the sources

Choose First Mile if

  • A tender or a landlord asks for B Corp certification by name.
  • You need up to three collections a day, seven days a week, in central London.
  • You have sites outside London, or across the UK and Ireland, and want one supplier and one portal for all of them.
  • You need a long list of specialist streams (WEEE, confidential, hazardous) under one account, with carbon reporting in a portal.

Choose Capital Recycle if

If you want a collection that turns up on the day it is booked, and a team you can reach when something needs sorting, choose Capital Recycle.
  • You want a missed or late collection sorted by a person who can act: a call to 0207 101 4003 reaches the person who runs your round, not a ticket queue or a call centre that cannot contact the driver.
  • You have one London site, or a few, with sacks or one to four bins.
  • You want to start this week, with the containers actually on site: sacks from our own stock within 24 to 48 hours, bins delivered on the agreed start date, and a damaged bin swapped like for like on 24 hours' notice.
  • You want the weekend collection to be the same collection as the weekday one: our recurring rounds run seven days a week, with no weekend premium.
  • You want the bin price to be the whole price: one fixed monthly figure, no rental line, no levy, no fuel surcharge, so there is no lift count on the invoice to argue over.
  • You want the notice terms in front of you before you sign, not discovered on the way out: 12 months, 60 days' notice before the renewal date, and a reminder from us 90 days before it.
  • You want us to issue and renew the Waste Transfer Note, so the paperwork a landlord or auditor asks for is already there.

How switching works

  1. Check the notice window on your current agreement before you do anything else. The window, not the new supplier, decides when you can move.
  2. Tell us your postcode, the containers you use and your weekly volume. We confirm a start date within 24 to 48 hours.
  3. We deliver sacks or bins on the agreed date. If you are moving from bins, the new bins go in as the old ones go out; there is no period with two sets on site.
  4. We issue the Waste Transfer Note for each stream at the start, then renew it annually.
The full checklist is in our guide: How to switch commercial waste provider.

Common questions

Is First Mile contract-free?

Its London pages describe the service as contract-free. Its published terms, read 2 November 2026, say either party may end the agreement on not less than 90 days' written notice unless otherwise agreed. Read the terms yourself before you rely on either wording.

Sacks or bins?

Sacks suit a site with no storage and a small daily volume. Bins suit a site with a bin store and steady volume. Our guide on bags or bins for commercial waste covers the trade-offs.

How much waste do I need to produce?

Sacks are priced per sack by your weekly volume; bins are priced per bin by size and how often it is emptied. Tell us the volume and we quote the same day.

Do you cover my postcode?

Central London and the WD postcodes. Call 0207 101 4003 with your postcode and we will tell you straight away.

How long is your agreement?

12 months as standard, renewing unless you give 60 days' notice before the renewal date, or rolling monthly at a higher rate. You see the agreement before you sign.

Who do I call if a collection is missed?

0207 101 4003. You speak to the person who runs the round.

Who published this

Capital Recycle Ltd wrote this page. We compete with First Mile for sack and bin customers in London, so read it as one competitor writing about another. We are an agile, independent London collector with our own caged tippers and our own sack stock. Everything we say about First Mile comes from its own published pages, listed below with the date we read them, and we have not quoted any First Mile price. Our carrier registration CBDU466346 is on the public register, so check us as well.
Facts checked 2 November 2026.

Sources