Ealing is one of the trickier West London boroughs to take rubbish to yourself, and it is almost entirely down to one thing: the tip is shut on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Nearly a third of the week, every week. Combine that with compulsory slot booking and a height barrier that pushes every van onto a weighbridge, and a job you thought was a spare hour on a Wednesday afternoon becomes a booked appointment on a Saturday.
The site is the Greenford Road Reuse & Recycling Centre in Greenford, run under the West London Waste Authority, and it serves the whole borough — Ealing, Acton, Southall, Northolt, Perivale, Hanwell and Greenford itself.
Here is exactly how it works in 2026: the hours, the booking, the vehicle rules, what you can take, and what DIY waste actually costs once you go past the free allowance. Rules, hours and charges at recycling centres change without much notice, so confirm the current details on ealing.gov.uk or westlondonwaste.gov.uk before you load the car.
Where is the Ealing tip?
The borough’s recycling centre is on Greenford Road, Greenford, Middlesex, UB6 9AP. Most people simply call it the Greenford tip or the Greenford Road recycling centre.
It is central enough to the borough to be a reasonable run from Greenford (UB6), Northolt (UB5) and Ealing (W5), and a longer haul from Acton (W3) and Southall (UB1/UB2) in the east and south of the borough.
Ealing has historically also operated a site at Stirling Road in Acton. Provision has changed over the years, so check the council’s current list of reuse and recycling centres before assuming an Acton run is an option — the Greenford Road site is the one consistently published as the borough’s household centre.
Opening hours — and the two days it is shut
This is the detail to get right, because it is unusual:
| Period | Open days | Hours | Last booking slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April – 30 September | Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun | 8am – 5pm | 4pm – 4.30pm |
| 1 October – 31 March | Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun | 8am – 4pm | 3pm – 3.30pm |
The site is closed every Wednesday and Thursday, plus Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The weighbridge closes at 4.30pm in summer and 3.30pm in winter — so if you are in a van, your real cut-off is earlier than the site’s closing time.
The practical consequence
Losing Wednesday and Thursday pushes demand onto the weekend, and the weekend slots go first. If you are clearing a house to a deadline — an end of tenancy, a completion date, a probate clearance — do not assume you can fit tip runs around it. Book early, or price up a collection and keep your weekend.
You must book a slot
Ealing operates compulsory advance booking. The council is blunt about it: residents arriving without a booking will not be allowed entry. There is no turning up and hoping.
- Slots run in 30-minute blocks.
- You can book up to two weeks in advance.
- Booking is free and done online through the West London Waste portal.
- Take proof of your Ealing address with you.
Two weeks of forward booking sounds generous until you need the tip today. For anything time-sensitive — a fridge that has died, a fly-tipped pile outside your gate, a tenancy that ends Friday — the booking window is the constraint, not the price.
Vans, height barriers and the weighbridge
Ealing splits vehicles by height rather than by type, which catches out people in larger estate cars and people carriers as well as vans.
- Vehicles under 1.8m use the height-restricted entrance — household waste only.
- Every vehicle over 1.8m, and all vans, must enter via the weighbridge.
- Maximum 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight.
- Using a hire vehicle? Bring the hire agreement, proof of address and photo ID.
That hire-vehicle rule matters more than people expect. The classic Ealing mistake is hiring a Luton for a Saturday clear-out, arriving without the hire paperwork, and being turned round at the weighbridge with the van still loaded and the hire clock running.
DIY and building waste: what it actually costs
Household waste is free. DIY and construction waste is not, beyond a small weekly allowance.
Ealing residents get two 50-litre rubble bags, or one item no larger than 2m × 0.75m × 0.7m, free of charge per week. Anything beyond that is charged at £28.55 per 100kg.
The list of what counts as DIY waste is broad: concrete, turf, paving slabs, soil, greenhouses, plasterboard, kitchen units and worktops, painted wood, skirting boards, sheds, fences, rubble, rocks, tarmac, decking, timber, plaster, roofing tiles, slates, felt, windows and doors including frames, wall and floor tiles, bathroom suites and fittings, and pallets.
Do the maths before you load up
Rubble is heavy. A single bathroom strip-out — suite, tiles, a bit of plasterboard — comfortably runs to several hundred kilos. At £28.55 per 100kg, plus multiple booked trips at 30 minutes each on a site shut two days a week, the “free” option stops being cheaper than a grab or a van collection surprisingly fast.
What can you take to the Greenford Road tip?
The site handles the standard household range across separate bays: paper and cardboard, glass, plastics, cans and foil, garden waste, wood, scrap metal, electricals and appliances, textiles, batteries, engine oil, and furniture. Sorting before you arrive is worth real time, because your slot is 30 minutes and a mixed boot means walking the same load between four bays.
Some categories are handled separately from the free household stream. Fridges and freezers follow a regulated degassing route, mattresses are often segregated, and DIY and building waste is charged beyond the weekly allowance covered below.
What the site will not take at all is the usual hazardous list: asbestos, gas cylinders, explosives, clinical waste and fuels. Asbestos in particular needs a licensed specialist — it is not something to wrap up and hope nobody notices.
Reuse before recycling
It is a reuse and recycling centre, and the reuse part is genuinely worth using. Furniture, tools, bikes and working electricals in decent condition can often be handed over for resale or redistribution rather than shredded. If an item still has life in it, ask on arrival rather than putting it straight in the bay.
Trade and business waste
The Greenford Road site is a household facility. Business waste is not a household visit dressed up in a smaller van.
If you are trading, you are under a duty of care to move waste through a registered carrier with a written transfer note. That applies to a one-van builder exactly as it applies to a national contractor, and the penalties for getting it wrong are real.
A licensed collection covers that as standard — see builders’ waste removal and commercial waste.
The load-and-go alternative
No booking window, no closed Wednesdays, no height barrier, no weighbridge, no per-100kg charge on rubble. We collect across Ealing, Greenford, Northolt, Acton, Southall, Perivale and Hanwell, usually same or next day.
We are a registered waste carrier, so household and trade waste both move legally, and loads are sorted for recycling rather than tipped whole. Pricing is by volume from £95, fixed before we start.
And we carry it out of the house — the part that the Greenford Road weighbridge cannot help you with when the sofa is on the second floor.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Ealing tip?
Greenford Road Reuse & Recycling Centre, Greenford Road, Greenford, Middlesex, UB6 9AP.
Is the Ealing recycling centre open on Wednesday?
No. The Greenford Road site is closed every Wednesday and Thursday, all year round, as well as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Do I need to book the Ealing tip?
Yes. Booking is compulsory in 30-minute slots, up to two weeks ahead. Residents who arrive without a booking are refused entry.
Can I take a van to the Greenford Road tip?
Yes, but vans and any vehicle over 1.8m must enter through the weighbridge rather than the height-restricted entrance, up to a maximum of 3.5 tonnes gross. Hire vehicles need the hire agreement plus photo ID and proof of address.
How much does DIY waste cost at the Ealing tip?
Two 50-litre rubble bags or one item up to 2m × 0.75m × 0.7m are free per week. Beyond that, £28.55 per 100kg.
What if I cannot get a slot in time?
A registered carrier can collect from your door across Ealing without a booking window, usually same or next day, and will handle trade waste with the correct transfer note.
Shut on Wednesday? We’re Not.
No slot to book, no weighbridge, no £28.55 per 100kg on rubble. We collect across Ealing, Greenford, Northolt, Acton and Southall — often same day. Send a photo for a fixed price.