Kendal bin collections shift for the August bank holiday — and garden waste now costs £60

Kendal householders should put their bins out a day later than usual during the week of the August bank holiday, with the change beginning on Monday 31 August 2026. A normal Monday collection will take place on Tuesday 1 September, while Friday rounds will move to Saturday.

The arrangement applies to the South Lakeland part of Westmorland and Furness, which includes Kendal. It does not apply across the whole council area: Barrow and Eden collections remain unchanged. The council says crews will work on the bank holiday, but South Lakeland rounds will still run one day late throughout the week.

What Kendal residents need to know

Residents can check their exact collection day using the council’s bin collection lookup. The tool can also produce a printable list or add the dates to a phone calendar. Bins should be at the kerbside by 6am and no earlier than the evening before collection.

Kendal homes generally use a grey 240-litre wheelie bin for general household waste, two blue recycling boxes and a blue bag. The grey bin is emptied every two weeks. One blue box is for paper and card, while the other is for glass bottles and jars. The blue bag is used for plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, cans, aluminium foil, bottle and jar lids, and cartons such as Tetra Pak.

The boxes must not be mixed. The council states: “We will not collect any boxes that have a mix of card, paper and glass in them.” Recycling is collected fortnightly.

Vapes, rubble, building waste, bricks, concrete, vehicle batteries, paint cans, oil cans, trade waste and hazardous materials must not go in the grey bin. Ashes can be placed in it only after they have cooled completely and been bagged.

Garden waste subscription now in force

Garden-waste collections became a paid service across Westmorland and Furness on 1 April 2026. The cost is £60 a year per bin, payable in full when residents sign up. There are no instalments, late-joining discount, benefits discount or Council Tax Reduction discount.

A first bin is free for new subscribers who do not already have one. Additional bins cost £25 each as a one-off bin charge, followed by the £60 annual subscription for each bin. The service provides up to 20 collections during a 40-week season and does not operate in December, January or February.

Only council bins displaying a valid subscription sticker under the handle are collected. A grace period for unsubscribed bins ended on 28 June 2026, meaning collections from 29 June apply only to bins with a valid sticker. Residents have 14 days from payment to cancel, and the subscription does not automatically renew in March.

Anyone who does not subscribe can use the Canal Head household waste recycling centre or compost garden waste at home. An older council webpage still describes the former February-to-November service as having “no separate charge”, but the current paid arrangement is the one now operating.

Canal Head tip and bulky waste charges

Kendal Household Waste Recycling Centre is at Canal Head North, Kendal, LA9 7DB. It is open from 8am to 4pm every day, including bank holidays other than Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Site enquiries can be made on 01539 728 084.

Residents can use any of Cumbria’s 14 centres. Ambleside is open from 8am to 6pm daily, while Grange-over-Sands is open from 8am to 4pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only.

A permit is required for vans and utility vehicles, double-axle trailers and people arriving on foot. A car with a single-axle trailer of up to three metres does not need one. Permit applications are processed Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm; the helpline is 0300 373 3300. Luton vans, tippers, vehicles with more than four wheels and vans towing trailers cannot receive a permit.

Householders can take up to four domestic tyres per visit. Anyone bringing asbestos or plasterboard should contact the site first because capacity is limited. The centres are for household waste, not trade waste from holiday lets, guesthouses, hotels, Airbnbs or campsites.

Bulky waste collections in the Kendal area are carried out by Right2Work. A collection of up to three items costs £42, with additional items costing £11.40 each up to a maximum of ten. A full ten-item collection costs £121.80. Matching three-piece suites, up to eight matching dining chairs, and a bed with its headboard each count as one item.

Carpets, laminate flooring, sheds, greenhouses, tyres, window frames, fitted kitchen or bathroom units, glass, gas bottles, bric-a-brac and fish tanks are among items Right2Work will not collect. Carpets and rugs can instead be taken to Canal Head. About two-thirds of bulky items collected are reused or recycled.

Recycling changes planned, but no date set

Westmorland and Furness Cabinet agreed a single waste service for the council area on 9 September 2025. For Kendal, the proposed change would replace the two blue boxes and blue bag with two 180-litre wheelie bins: one for plastic, cans and glass, and one for card and paper.

The grey 240-litre bin would remain, as would fortnightly general-waste collections. The council says 55,000 grey bins are already in service across South Lakeland and will not be replaced. Bespoke arrangements are promised for properties unable to accommodate wheelie bins, including some yard and terrace streets in Kendal.

No rollout date has been announced. The council delivers 7.5 million collections a year to 117,000 households and says the change could take “several months, even years”.