Bristol's Binning

A partnership project tackling litter in Bristol. Look out for brand new exciting bins and amazing artwork!

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When Bristol bins, everyone wins

In partnership with environmental charity Hubbub and Bristol City Council, we’re taking action to reduce litter on Bristol’s streets. The ‘Bristol’s Binning’ campaign aims to reduce litter in our city and stop it travelling into the harbour and out to sea. Because everyone wins when Bristol bins.

We’ve installed over 50 shiny new bins across the city for this project. You brilliant Bristolians can now recycle on the go, vote with your butts (cigarette butts that is) and literally win when you bin!

In central Bristol especially, the litter tide is rising

From Baldwin Street alone over 500kg of litter gets dropped in a week. It can be as much as 90kg in a single night.

Luckily, our brilliant street cleaning teams are out tidying everyday. They make sure the streets of Bristol are clean and safe for everyone to enjoy.

But, what if they weren’t there? Central Bristol would soon be a sea of litter.

A Bristol Waste street cleaner picks up some plastic litter from the pavement using a litter picker. They are pushing a wheeled bin card with a shovel and broom attached to it.

Making waves to tackle litter

Two million pieces of litter are dropped every day in the UK, wreaking havoc on the natural environment and habitats.

Our street cleaning teams collect around 3,700 tonnes of litter every year. That’s that same weight as two SS Great Britain’s or 300 double decker buses!

Picking up litter costs the city around £6 million a year. That’s money that could be reinvested in good causes.

A young person in black puffer jacket and backpack uses their smartphone to scan the QR code on a brightly coloured Bristol bin

Bristol's Binning against litter

With our new bins, you can vote with your butts (cigarette butts, that is!) and literally win when you bin. The LitterLotto app gives you free to entry to a prize draw, with some on-the-spot prizes and huge jackpots just for binning your litter.

A smiling person lifts the lid of a Bristol's Binning glass recycling bin on Bristol city centre. They look like they're just recycled something in the bin

Meet the bins

How many of our Bristol’s Binning bins have you used?

  • Easy to find after dark, some of our new bins glow in the dark!
  • Check out our Big Belly Bins: they sing, talk and celebrate when you use them
  • Vote with your litter in our new voting bins
  • Ballot cigarette bins – vote on hot topics with your butt
A giant wave sculpture made from rubbish sits on a floating pontoon on Bristol harbour. In the background are the iconic Bristol cranes outside of the M Shed. The clouds in the sky are grey and moody and the sculpture is lit up with strings of coloured lights.

Another wave is possible

This giant wave of litter is the creation of South Wales eco-artist Wren Miller.

Measuring 4m tall and 6m wide, the wave is made with 90kg of waste. That’s equivalent to the volume of litter dropped on Baldwin Street in Bristol in just one busy Friday, highlighting the scale of littering in Bristol City Centre.

The sculpture is a reminder that another wave is possible, and that action on litter is needed. So, let’s get together to help reduce the amount of litter on our streets, because our actions can help clean up our harbour and stop plastic entering the ocean.

A group of Bristol Waste, Bristol City Council and Hubbub people pose in front of Bristol Harbour. The artist of the wave and her team are also there. In the background the wave sculpture is floating on the water

Bin it to win it!

We’re challenging you, the people of Bristol, to take to the streets to cut litter and stop it travelling into the harbour and out to sea.

Don’t forget to use the LitterLotto app when you bin your litter – you could win a prize!

Look out for our new bins and post your photos using the hashtag #BristolsBinning!

See our other campaigns