Recycling rate
64%
Total waste per person
453kg
Residual waste per person
161kg

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
72k
tonnes of waste was recycled
Savings
Selected materials
£8m
saved by recycling instead of disposal
Climate change impact
Selected materials
32k
tonnes of CO2 emissions was avoided

Top 5 UK recycling destinations

1
unspecified
Bridgend, Wales
14,759t
Organic Waste
2
CWM Environmental Ltd
Llanegwad, Wales
11,944t
Organic Waste
3
Neath Abbey Wharf
Blaenhonddan, Wales
6,476t
Rubble and aggregate
4
Palm Paper Ltd
Wiggenhall St Germans, England
5,573t
Paper
5
Ardagh Group
Wakefield, England
4,879t
Glass

Where does Wales’ recycling go?

Top countries (selected materials) 2020/21

Glass

Glass icon

Amount recycled
8,303t
CO2 avoided
6,269t
Estimated disposal saving
£938,281
Reported as exported
0%

Top destinations

Metal

Metal icon

Amount recycled
2,694t
CO2 avoided
6,842t
Estimated disposal saving
£304,378
Reported as exported
0%

Top destinations

Organic Waste

Organic waste icon

Amount recycled
26,710t
CO2 avoided
1,336t
Estimated disposal saving
£3,018,277
Reported as exported
0%

Top destinations

Paper

Paper and cardboard icon

Amount recycled
12,156t
CO2 avoided
6,649t
Estimated disposal saving
£1,373,582
Reported as exported
36%

Top destinations

Plastic

Plastic icon

Amount recycled
3,921t
CO2 avoided
2,102t
Estimated disposal saving
£443,066
Reported as exported
29%

Top destinations

Textiles

Textil icon

Amount recycled
1,219t
CO2 avoided
7,105t
Estimated disposal saving
£137,757
Reported as exported
16%

Top destinations