Guides · City of London

When Can City of London Businesses Put Waste Out?

Written by Géza Gröller, Capital Recycle Ltd · Updated 26 August 2026 · Sourced from the City of London Corporation
City of London businesses can put waste and recycling bags out between 18:00 and 08:00. The City of London Corporation restricts businesses from putting out waste and recycling bags and loose cardboard on the public highway and footpaths between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Sunday. The permitted presentation window is therefore the fourteen hours overnight, and it applies every day of the week.
That single rule shapes how almost every business in the Square Mile handles its waste. This guide sets out what the rule says, where it comes from, who it applies to, and what it means in practice if your premises has nowhere to store a bin.

The City of London presentation window: 18:00 to 08:00

The City of London Corporation publishes the restriction in its own words on its commercial waste page:

“Between 8am-6pm (Monday to Sunday) all businesses are restricted from putting out waste and recycling bags and loose cardboard for collection on the public highway and footpaths.”

City of London Corporation, Commercial waste. Page updated 9 October 2025.
Read the other way round, that leaves a fourteen-hour permitted window running from 18:00 in the evening to 08:00 the following morning. It covers bags, recycling bags and loose cardboard, and it applies to presentation on the public highway and footpaths — which is where most City businesses have to present, because they have no forecourt or yard of their own.

Does the City of London restriction apply at weekends?

Yes. The City of London Corporation states the restriction as Monday to Sunday, so there is no weekend exemption.
This is the detail that most often catches businesses out. A café or shop trading Saturday and Sunday faces exactly the same 08:00–18:00 prohibition it faces midweek. Weekend waste cannot be left out through the trading day on the assumption that enforcement takes the weekend off.

What happens if waste goes out during City of London restricted hours?

The City of London Corporation states that complying is each individual business’s responsibility, and that failing to comply risks enforcement action and potential prosecution.
Two practical points follow. First, responsibility sits with the business that produced the waste, not with the collector and not with the landlord — a bag on the footway is generally traceable back to its producer. Second, the exposure runs past a fixed penalty: the Corporation’s own wording extends to prosecution.

Why does the City of London restrict presentation times?

The Corporation gives four reasons: reducing obstructions, improving access, enhancing pedestrian safety, and discouraging vermin.
The Square Mile has some of the narrowest and busiest footways in the country, and a daytime population far larger than its residential one. Bags standing on those footways through the working day obstruct pedestrians, and the longer waste sits out, the more it attracts. Limiting presentation to the overnight window keeps the streets clear during the hours they are busiest.

How must waste be presented in the City of London?

Waste must be stored securely so that it cannot escape. The Corporation’s own examples are tying bags, flattening boxes and closing lids.
In practice the most common fault we see written up is loose cardboard. Flattened boxes stacked against a wall beside the bags are not securely contained, and loose cardboard is named explicitly in the restriction alongside bags. Cardboard should be flattened and put inside a dry mixed recycling sack rather than leaned against the building.

Who collects commercial waste in the City of London?

The City of London Corporation does not provide a commercial waste service. It states this plainly and directs businesses either to its named partner or to the GOV.UK register of licensed waste carriers.
Every City business therefore has to appoint a licensed carrier of its own. When you are choosing one, the two things worth checking before anything else are the Environment Agency waste carrier register and Companies House. Capital Recycle Ltd holds Upper Tier waste carrier registration CBDU466346 and is registered at Companies House under company number 14062640 for the collection of non-hazardous waste. Both are public records you can check without taking anyone’s word for it.

What if a City of London business has nowhere to store a bin?

Commercial waste sacks are the standard answer where a business has no off-street space to store a wheelie bin between collections, which describes most premises in the City of London.
A wheelie bin has to live somewhere for the twenty-three hours a day it is not being emptied. Most City premises — ground-floor retail with a trading frontage and no side return, upper-floor offices in shared buildings, food units on narrow streets — simply do not have that space. Sacks are stored inside until presentation, go out inside the permitted window, and leave no permanent footprint on the pavement.
That is not a downgrade from a bin. For a City premises with no storage it is usually the only compliant option, and it fits the time band naturally: sacks go out when the window opens and are gone before it closes.

Commercial bag collection from Capital Recycle covers general waste and dry mixed recycling sacks across the City and central London, from £1.50 + VAT per sack.

The presentation window is one rule among several that apply to commercial waste in the City. The others are covered in full in their own guides.

Do City of London businesses need a Waste Transfer Note?

Yes. A Waste Transfer Note is required for every transfer of commercial waste, or for a specified period, and it must be retained for at least two years.

Full detail: Waste transfer notes explained.

Does Simpler Recycling apply to City of London businesses?

Since 31 March 2025, businesses in England with 10 or more full-time-equivalent employees must separate recyclable materials and food waste from general waste. The requirement extends to all businesses regardless of size from 31 March 2027.

Full detail: Simpler Recycling: what your business must do.

What does commercial waste collection cost in the City of London?

Cost depends on how many sacks you produce a week, how often they are collected, and whether your postcode already sits on an existing round. An EC postcode is usually on a route already, which is what keeps a City collection priced as an on-route job.

Full detail: Commercial waste collection cost in London.

Do City of London businesses need a waste contract?

Not necessarily a long one. Capital Recycle offers a standard twelve-month agreement or a one-month rolling arrangement.

Full detail: Do I need a commercial waste contract?

Can glass go in dry mixed recycling in the City of London?

No. Glass is not part of a dry mixed recycling stream and needs its own dedicated collection. If your premises produces glass, it should be set up as a separate stream rather than contaminating the recycling sack.
Waste records are moving from paper to a government service, on dates most guidance gets wrong. Full detail: what is digital waste tracking and does it apply to my London business?

Further questions on the City rules

I close at 17:45 in the City of London. Can I put the sacks out on my way out?

No. The City of London restriction runs until 6pm, so 17:45 sits inside the restricted period. Either someone returns after 18:00, or the sacks stay inside overnight and go out before 08:00 the following morning. We also offer a keyholder service, where we hold keys and access the premises after you have closed to take the waste out ourselves. Tell us if you need that to stay inside the City of London window.

If my City of London collection is at 06:00, when am I allowed to present?

Any time from 18:00 the previous evening. The City of London window is continuous from 18:00 through to 08:00, so an overnight collection can be presented for the evening before rather than needing someone on site at dawn.

Do my sacks have to stand on a City of London footway all night?

No, and it is worth designing against. The window opens at 18:00 but nothing obliges you to present at 18:00. If your City of London collection is at 06:00, presenting in the early morning means the waste stands outside for minutes rather than twelve hours, which means less interference, fewer complaints and less chance of a split sack becoming your problem.

Does the City of London waste restriction apply on bank holidays?

The City of London Corporation states the restriction as applying Monday to Sunday, and its commercial waste page publishes no bank-holiday exception. Treat a bank holiday in the City of London as any other day unless the Corporation says otherwise.

If waste is left out at the wrong time in the City of London, is my business or my carrier liable?

Your business. The City of London Corporation is explicit that complying is the individual business’s responsibility. Waste on the footway is generally traceable to whoever produced it, and appointing a carrier does not transfer that duty.

What is the penalty for breaching the City of London waste time restriction?

The City of London Corporation’s published wording is that non-compliance risks “enforcement action and potential prosecution.” It publishes no fixed penalty figure on its commercial waste page, so any specific amount quoted elsewhere is worth checking against the Corporation directly.

Can I bundle flattened cardboard with string in the City of London instead of bagging it?

The City of London restriction names loose cardboard explicitly alongside bags, and the Corporation requires waste to be stored securely so it cannot escape, giving flattening boxes as one of its own examples. A tied bundle standing on the footway during restricted hours is still waste presented during restricted hours. Inside a recycling sack is the safer answer.

Does the City of London time restriction apply to wheelie bins as well as sacks?

The City of London Corporation’s published wording covers “waste and recycling bags and loose cardboard” presented on the public highway and footpaths. It does not, on that page, extend the same wording to wheelie bins. If you present a bin on the highway rather than keeping it on your own land, check the position with the Corporation directly rather than assuming either way.

Does the City of London restriction apply to private land in front of my premises?

The City of London restriction as published applies to the public highway and footpaths. Land within your own demise is a different question, and one worth confirming with your landlord and the Corporation rather than inferring from the highway rule.

Do I have to use the City of London Corporation’s named partner for waste collection?

No. The City of London Corporation directs businesses to its partner or to the register of licensed waste carriers on GOV.UK. Any registered carrier may collect your waste; the choice is yours.

The City of London Corporation points to a GOV.UK register. What am I meant to look for on it?

Three things. That the registration exists and is current, that it is upper tier rather than lower tier for a business collecting other people’s waste commercially, and that the registered name matches the company that will actually invoice you. A number belonging to a different trading name than the one on your paperwork is the thing to catch before you sign, not after.

Do boroughs next to the City of London use the same 18:00 to 08:00 window?

Not necessarily. Presentation time bands are set borough by borough and are revised from time to time. This guide covers the City of London only. If you trade in Westminster, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Camden or Southwark, check that council’s own published page.

Do I need a Waste Transfer Note in the City of London for just a few sacks a week?

Yes. There is no volume threshold. A Waste Transfer Note is required for every transfer of commercial waste, or for a specified period covering repeat collections, however small the quantity and wherever in the City of London you trade.

Who keeps the Waste Transfer Note for a City of London collection, me or the carrier?

Both parties hold a copy, and your business must retain its copy for at least two years. In practice it is the producer who gets asked for it, usually by a City of London landlord, an auditor or a client’s procurement team.

Simpler Recycling says 10 or more employees. My City of London business has eight. Does it apply?

Not yet. The 31 March 2025 duty applies to businesses in England with 10 or more full-time-equivalent employees. Below that threshold it reaches you on 31 March 2027, when it extends to all businesses regardless of size.

Does Simpler Recycling change when I can put waste out in the City of London?

No. They are separate requirements. Simpler Recycling governs what must be separated from general waste; the City of London time band governs when any of it may be presented on the footway. A compliant City business has to satisfy both.

My City of London premises has nowhere at all to store waste inside. What are my options?

Realistically, more frequent collection. Where there is no internal space, the answer is to shorten the gap between producing waste and it leaving, rather than presenting earlier than the window allows. Daily collection on an existing City of London round is often less expensive than businesses expect.

Does the City of London rule apply to packaging waste from deliveries?

Yes, if it is presented on the public highway. Delivery packaging is commercial waste like any other, and cardboard from deliveries is the single most common thing seen stacked on City of London footways during restricted hours. Pallets are the other one, and they are the bigger headache: they take up floor space a City of London business does not have, and they cannot sit out on the footway waiting to be collected. We collect pallets as well, either as a one-off clearance or on a regular run. Full detail: who collects used pallets in London.

Where can I read the City of London waste rule for myself?

On the City of London Corporation’s own commercial waste page, linked in the sources note above. It is short, and worth reading directly rather than relying on any summary, including this one.

How current is this City of London guidance?

Written on 26 August 2026 against the City of London Corporation’s page as dated 9 October 2025. Borough waste rules do change. If you are reading this long after that date, check the Corporation’s page directly and tell us if it has moved on, so this one can be corrected.

Sources. The presentation window, the Corporation’s non-provision of commercial waste services, the secure-storage requirement, Duty of Care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (s.34), the two-year Waste Transfer Note retention period and the Simpler Recycling dates are all taken from the City of London Corporation’s commercial waste page, dated 9 October 2025 and read on 26 August 2026.

A caution on borough rules. Time-band restrictions differ between London boroughs and are revised from time to time. This guide covers the City of London only. If you trade elsewhere in London, check your own council’s published page, or send us the postcode and we will check it for you.

Need a City of London collection that fits the window?

Tell us your postcode and roughly how many sacks a week, and we will come back with a rate and a slot inside the 18:00–08:00 band.
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