The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead covers around 65,000 households across Maidenhead, Windsor, Ascot, Sunningdale, Cookham, Taplow and Burnham, with waste collections operated by Serco.
It is a genuinely good service on the streams that matter most day to day: recycling is weekly, which is unusual and useful, and food waste is weekly too. Only general rubbish drops to fortnightly.
Where it is less generous is garden waste, at £89 a year — more than Hillingdon’s £77, Watford’s £62.40, Harrow’s £69, Buckinghamshire’s £65 and Slough’s £55. Council charges are reviewed annually and collection rounds change, so confirm the current details on rbwm.gov.uk before you rely on them.
What is collected and how often
| Container | What it takes | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Blue bin | Dry mixed recycling | Weekly |
| Food caddy | All food waste | Weekly |
| Black bin | Everything not recyclable | Every 2 weeks |
| Green bin | Garden waste — subscription only | Every 2 weeks |
Weekly recycling is the standout. Most surrounding authorities — Watford, Slough, Buckinghamshire, Harrow — run recycling fortnightly. Here it goes every week, which means the black bin dropping to fortnightly is far less of a constraint than it sounds, provided you actually separate properly.
Some properties with limited frontage or storage space receive black rubbish sacks instead of a wheelie bin, and there are larger communal bulk bins for flats. Waste and recycling bags are supplied only to qualifying households with no frontage — they are not an alternative for properties already on a bin round.
New or replacement bins and caddies are delivered within about 10 working days. A damaged bin should be left at your usual collection point at the front boundary, clearly visible, so it can be repaired or removed when the replacement arrives.
Putting bins out — and the excess waste rule
Bins must be at the front boundary of your property by 7am on your collection day. The council explicitly recommends putting them out the night before to be safe.
The excess waste policy is strict and worth quoting plainly: the council only collects household rubbish inside the bin with the lid closed.
- Rubbish overflowing, on top of, or beside the bin will not be collected
- Sacks left next to the bin will be left behind
- If the bin is so full the lid cannot close, the whole bin may be left uncollected
Bank holidays are now collected
RBWM states that it now collects on bank holiday dates, excluding Christmas and New Year — so if your bin is due on a bank holiday, present it at the kerbside by 7am as usual. Collections can still change at short notice for weather or major events, so check the council’s holiday page rather than relying on this alone. Christmas and New Year changes are published closer to the time.
Certain items are not for the black bin at all and must go to the Stafferton Way Household Waste and Recycling Centre in Maidenhead. The borough’s other site is on Maidenhead Road, Windsor, SL4 5HT.
Reporting a missed bin
| Step | Rule |
|---|---|
| Earliest you can report | The day after your scheduled collection |
| Deadline | Within 48 hours of the expected collection, and no later than 2 working days after |
| Council response target | Another collection within 2 working days |
| Prerequisite | Bin presented correctly, by 7am, on the right day |
This applies to recycling, rubbish, food waste and garden waste alike. Before reporting, check that the bin was genuinely presented on the correct day — a bin left out on the wrong week or rejected for excess waste is not a missed collection and reporting it will not bring a crew back.
Collections can also change at short notice due to bad weather or major events, which in this borough is a real factor — Windsor and Ascot both generate significant event traffic.
The £89 garden waste subscription
Garden waste is an opt-in subscription at £89 for one year (fees as at 1 April 2026), collected fortnightly. It is open to all households with a garden, including maisonettes and flats with private gardens.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| One-year subscription | £89 |
| Additional bin | £89 for the year… |
| …or, if requested within six months of your renewal date | £44 |
Your subscription runs one year from the date of your first collection, not from the date you pay. Collections are fortnightly all year where possible, except two to three weeks over Christmas and New Year. After activation you are assigned a Week One or Week Two collection and a day between Monday and Friday.
The soil restriction catches gardeners out
Large amounts of soil, mud or dirt cannot be collected. Small remnants attached to roots are expected and fine — but a bin containing loose or significant quantities of soil may not be emptied at all. If you are lifting turf, digging out a border or clearing a bed, the garden bin is not the route, whatever you have paid for it.
At £89 this is the most expensive garden waste service among the neighbouring authorities. For a household generating garden waste in two or three seasonal bursts rather than continuously, a one-off garden waste collection priced by the load will usually work out cheaper — and it takes soil, turf and timber that the bin will not.
Where the service leaves gaps
Weekly recycling covers a lot. What it does not cover:
- Any excess waste at all — the lid-closed rule is absolute, and side sacks are left
- Soil, turf and significant garden clearance — explicitly excluded from the green bin
- DIY and building waste — not a kerbside stream
- Bulky furniture you cannot get to the boundary
- Garden waste if you are not subscribed — £89 is a lot for occasional use
We cover Maidenhead and the surrounding SL postcodes, including Taplow, Cookham and Burnham, priced by the load:
| Load | Approx. volume | Our fixed price |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum charge | 1.5 cu yd | £95 |
| ¼ van | 7 cu yd | £195 |
| ½ van | 14 cu yd | £320 |
| ¾ van | 18 cu yd | £405 |
| Full van | 24 cu yd | £495 |
If you are in Burnham or Taplow, note that you also have Buckinghamshire’s Burnham Recycling Centre nearby — but it is closed Wednesdays and Thursdays, and as a non-Buckinghamshire resident you would pay an access fee of £28.80 to £472.70 depending on vehicle and waste type.
What goes in the blue bin — and what does not
Paper, card and cardboard, plastic bottles and containers, tins and cans, cartons, and in this borough glass goes in the mixed recycling too. Items go in loose, not bagged.
What must not go in — this is the difference between a collected bin and a rejected one:
- Food waste — it has its own weekly caddy
- Plastic bags, film and wrapping
- Textiles, nappies and sanitary items
- Polystyrene and hard plastics
- Garden waste, soil and turf
- Rubble, timber and DIY materials — these go to Stafferton Way
With recycling collected weekly and rubbish only fortnightly, the borough is effectively nudging you to separate properly. If your black bin is overflowing at the end of a fortnight, the usual cause is recyclable material going in the wrong bin rather than a genuine capacity problem.
How this compares to the neighbouring councils
Six neighbouring authorities run six genuinely different services. If you have moved recently, this is usually the source of the confusion — the rules you are used to may simply not apply here.
| Council | Collection frequency | Garden waste/yr | Missed-bin window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrow | Fortnightly (food weekly) | £69 | After 5pm, within 48h |
| Hillingdon | Weekly | £77 | After 1.30pm, within 72h |
| Buckinghamshire | Fortnightly (food weekly) | £65 | 6pm–midnight next day |
| Watford | Fortnightly (food weekly) | £62.40 | After 5pm, within 24h |
| Windsor & Maidenhead | Recycling weekly, rubbish fortnightly | £89 | Next day, within 48h |
| Slough | Fortnightly (all streams) | £55 + £52 bin | After 7pm, within 2 working days |
The Royal Borough is the most expensive of the six for garden waste at £89 — £34 more than Slough — but it is one of only two collecting recycling weekly, which is worth more to most households than the garden bin.
Two things are worth taking from that table. First, the missed-bin reporting windows are all different — from Watford’s 24 hours to Hillingdon’s 72 — and missing yours means waiting for the next scheduled collection. Second, garden waste ranges from £55 to £89 for a broadly similar fortnightly service, and Slough’s headline £55 becomes £107 in year one if you need to buy the bin.
The Royal Borough’s two recycling centres
RBWM runs two household waste and recycling centres, and which one you use is largely a matter of which side of the borough you are on:
- Stafferton Way, Maidenhead — the Maidenhead site, and where the council directs items that cannot go in the black bin
- Maidenhead Road, Windsor, SL4 5HT — the Windsor site
Both take the materials the kerbside service refuses: rubble, timber, DIY waste, large electricals, soil and turf. Check current opening hours and accepted materials on rbwm.gov.uk before travelling, and check the vehicle and permit rules if you are not arriving in an ordinary car.
If you are in Taplow, Burnham or Cookham, read this first
Those villages sit close to the Buckinghamshire boundary, and Buckinghamshire's Burnham site on Crowpiece Lane is often nearer than Stafferton Way. But Burnham is closed every Wednesday and Thursday, and as a non-Buckinghamshire resident you would pay an access fee — from £28.80 for a small car of garden waste up to £472.70 for a large van of general waste. Slough residents are exempt from that fee; Royal Borough residents are not.
That fee structure is the reason a collection often works out cheaper than a self-haul for anyone near the county line with more than a car-load — before you have counted fuel or the two trips it usually takes.
Maidenhead waste collection FAQs
How often is recycling collected in Maidenhead?
Every week, along with food waste. General rubbish in the black bin is collected every two weeks. Weekly recycling is unusual — most neighbouring councils run it fortnightly.
What time do bins need to be out in Maidenhead?
By 7am at the front boundary of your property. The council recommends putting them out the night before.
How much is garden waste collection in Maidenhead?
£89 for a one-year subscription (as at 1 April 2026), collected fortnightly. An additional bin is £89, or £44 if requested within six months of your renewal date. It is the most expensive garden waste service among neighbouring councils.
Will they collect bags left beside my bin?
No. RBWM only collects household rubbish inside the bin with the lid closed. Sacks beside the bin are left behind, and if the lid will not close the whole bin may be left uncollected.
Can I put soil in my Maidenhead garden waste bin?
Only small remnants attached to roots. Large amounts of soil, mud or dirt cannot be collected, and a bin containing significant loose soil may not be emptied at all.
How do I report a missed bin in Maidenhead?
Report from the day after your scheduled collection and within 48 hours, and no later than two working days after. The council then aims to collect within two working days.
Are bins collected on bank holidays in Maidenhead?
RBWM states it collects on bank holidays, excluding Christmas and New Year — present your bin by 7am as normal. Collections can still be changed at short notice for weather or major events, and Christmas and New Year dates are published nearer the time, so check the council page.
Garden clearance without the £89 subscription
Same-day collection across Maidenhead, Taplow, Cookham and Burnham. We take the soil, turf and timber the green bin will not. From £95.