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Recycling rate
72%
Total waste per person
443kg
Residual waste per person
125kg

Recycling service

Swansea Council provides a multi-stream kerbside collections service for recycling.

It collects:

  • food waste every week, from a green caddy using caddy liners provided by the Council for free; and
     
  • dry recycling every two weeks,
     
    • in single-use green sacks for glass bottles and jars, and metal cans, tins, aerosols and foil;
       
    • in single-use green sacks for cardboard and paper; and
       
    • from a reusable pink bag for plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, and toothpaste tubes.

Swansea Council also collects:

  • garden waste every two weeks, from reusable white bags; and
     
  • non-recyclable waste every two weeks. Residents may put out up to three single-use black sacks every two weeks.

The Council provides a bulky waste collections service for large items. To find out how much this service costs, or to book a collection, residents should visit the Council’s website.

The Council manages five Recycling Centres. Residents must book an appointment before they visit a site.

Visit Swansea Council's website.

Household waste recycling centres

Llansamlet Household Waste Recycling Centre

Llansamlet Household Waste Recycling Centre
51.658, -3.91945

Clyne Household Waste Recycling Centre, Sketty

Clyne Household Waste Recycling Centre, Sketty
51.6064, -4.00016

Garngoch Recycling Centre, Gorseinon

Garngoch Recycling Centre, Gorseinon
51.6653, -4.0178

Penlan Household Waste Recycling Centre

Penlan Household Waste Recycling Centre
51.6484, -3.9622

Tir John Recycling Centre, St Thomas

Tir John Recycling Centre, St Thomas
51.625, -3.89812

In total
All materials
77k
tonnes of waste was recycled
Savings
Selected materials
£9m
saved by recycling instead of disposal
Climate change impact
Selected materials
35k
tonnes of CO2 emissions was avoided

Top 5 UK recycling destinations

1
unspecified
Bridgend, Wales
14,017t
Organic Waste
2
CWM Environmental Ltd
Llanegwad, Wales
10,202t
Organic Waste
3
Recresco Ltd
Cwmbran, Wales
7,643t
Glass
4
Neath Abbey Wharf
Blaenhonddan, Wales
4,792t
Rubble and aggregate
5
Johnsons Aggregates Ltd
Clifton, England
4,404t
Incinerator Bottom Ash

Where does Wales’ recycling go?

Top countries (selected materials) 2022/23

Glass

Glass icon

Amount recycled
7,762t
CO2 avoided
5,860t
Estimated disposal saving
£877,133
Reported as exported
1%

Top destinations

Metal

Metal icon

Amount recycled
6,304t
CO2 avoided
16,013t
Estimated disposal saving
£712,370
Reported as exported
52%

Top destinations

Organic Waste

Organic waste icon

Amount recycled
24,274t
CO2 avoided
1,214t
Estimated disposal saving
£2,742,911
Reported as exported
0%

Top destinations

Paper

Paper and cardboard icon

Amount recycled
10,917t
CO2 avoided
5,972t
Estimated disposal saving
£1,233,609
Reported as exported
77%

Top destinations

Plastic

Plastic icon

Amount recycled
4,107t
CO2 avoided
2,201t
Estimated disposal saving
£464,117
Reported as exported
6%

Top destinations

Textiles

Textil icon

Amount recycled
380t
CO2 avoided
2,215t
Estimated disposal saving
£42,952
Reported as exported
0%

Top destinations