All small-medium sized businesses, including all self-catering holiday lets and B&Bs, that receive a weekly kerbside collection service from the Council, or bring waste to a Council managed waste site on an off-island, are required to sign up to the Council's commercial waste service.
This requirement applies to all businesses on St Mary’s, St Agnes, Bryher and St Martin’s, whether they pay Council Tax or Non-Domestic Rates.
Larger businesses on the off-islands which produce large volumes of waste and recycling will need to contact the waste team separately to discuss their requirements.
The Council doesn’t mange commercial waste and recycling on Tresco.
How to sign up to the new waste service
Businesses can sign up to the Council's commercial waste service by completing an online form, which you can acces by clicking on the button below:
| CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO THE COMMERCIAL WASTE SERVICE |
This form asks for your business details and your waste and recycling requirements.
After completing the sign-up form, a price for your chosen level of service and a copy of the contract terms and conditions will be sent to your business within 3 working days.
The terms and conditions for the service are attached on the right-hand side of this page.
If your business produces larger or smaller amounts of waste and recycling than is accounted for on the sign-up form at the link above, or you are unable to complete it for any other reason, please email the waste and recycling team at zerowaste@scilly.gov.uk or call 01720 424450 to make alternative arrangements.
If businesses wish to amend the number of sacks they require after they have signed up to the service, they will need to notify us by emailing zerowaste@scilly.gov.uk.
IMPORTANT: please be aware that any business on St Mary’s, St Agnes, Bryher or St Martin’s that fails to sign up to the Council's commercial waste service (or in the case of larger businesses, make alternative arrangements, as set out above):
- WILL NOT be a Council commercial waste services customer.
- WILL NOT have their commercial waste or recycling collected.
- WILL NOT be able to access any of the off-island waste sites for the purpose of disposing of commercial waste or recycling.
How the service works
Businesses can sign up to residual waste collections and can also be able opt in to weekly recycling options. Businesses can also choose whether they want a seasonal or year-round service.
Residual commercial waste
Residual waste is collected/managed weekly.
The Council provides rolls of 25 purple, 90L single-use commercial waste sacks. Reusable seagull proof sacks (shown in the image below) can be provided if businesses require them.
Previously issued grey commercial waste sacks are not accepted by the Council.
Commercial recycling
Recycling is collected/managed weekly alongside residual waste collections.
Businesses can opt in to all, none or some of the following recycling options:
- Recycling of paper and card
- Recycling of plastic and tins
- Recycling of glass bottles and jars
The following reusable recycling containers will be provided in accordance with the options selected by the business:
- Blue sack for paper and card sack: a blue, weighted, 120L (45cm by 60cm) sack with a fold-up, fastenable lid to keep the cardboard dry
- Red sack for plastic and cans/tins: a red, weighted, 90L (45cm by 45cm) sack for plastic and cans/tins, with a fold-over, fastenable lid
- Black box for glass bottles and jars: a black 55L (55cm by 40cm) box for glass bottles and jars, with drainage holes.
An image showing what the new reusable containers look like can be viewed below:
Delivery and usage of the new containers
Once businesses have signed up to the service as set out above, and have agreed terms and conditions with the Council, we will issue the new reusable containers.
Reusable commercial waste and recycling tags
Businesses are issued with reusable commercial waste and recycling tags, which must be attached to your waste and recycling containers every time your material is presented for collection on St Mary’s, or for disposal at an off-island waste site.
The tags are necessary because they show our waste collection crews and off-island waste contractors that you have paid for your waste service.
You will receive new tags every year you sign up and pay for the service.
Materials Accepted
Please see below for a list of which materials should be placed in each of the containers in order to be accepted. Please note that only bagged waste will be collected. Unbagged waste, or side waste, will not be accepted.
| 90-litre Purple Commercial Waste Sacks for Residual Waste: | |
|
|
| 120-litre Blue Reusable Recycling Sacks for Paper and Card | |
|
Clean and flattened:
|
 |
| 95-litre Red Reusable Recycling Sacks for Plastics and Metals | |
|
Clean, rinsed, dry, and squashed:
|
 |
|
55-litre Black Reusable Boxes for Glass Bottles and Jars |
|
|
Clean, rinsed, and dry:
Non-Accepted Materials: Broken glass, |
 |
Collection days on St Mary’s
Commercial waste on St Mary's is collected alongside household waste, so businesses and householder share the same collection day. Both businesses and householders are required to present their material for collection at the kerbside by 8.30am on their collection day.
You can view a map of St Mary's and the waste collection rounds as of 26 May 2025 below, along with a table listing the areas of St Mary's and their waste and recycling collection days. If you require any of this information in a different format, please contact zerowaste@scilly.gov.uk or call 01720 424450.
Table listing areas of St Mary's and the corresponding waste and recycling days as of 26 May 2025:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| Garrison | Church Road | Old Town Road | Little Porth Road |
|
Garrison Lane (Jerusalem Terrace to Garrison Hill) |
Church Street | Trench Lane | Sally Port |
| Rams Valley | Ingrams Opening | Launceston Close | Garrison Lane |
| Buzza Road | Silver Street | Ennor Close | Jerusalem Terrace |
| Hospital Lane | Porthcressa Road | High Cross Lane | The Bank |
| Sylvester's Lane | Buzza Street | Airport | Hugh Street |
| Pilots Retreat | Well Cross | Airport Bungalows | The Parade |
| Carn Gwarval | Back Lane | Parting Carn Lane | Thorofare |
| Tolmans | Higher Strand | Tremelethen Lane | Lower Strand |
| Rocky Hill | Jackson's Hill | Carn Friars Lane | Porthmellon Industrial Estate |
| Shark's Pit | Normandy | Bay View | |
| Trewince | Barnes Acre | Porthloo Lane | |
| Decca Lane | Maypole | Porthloo Hill | |
| Bristows | High Lane | Golf Club Lane | |
| Town Lane |
Telegraph Road (from Newford Lane) |
||
|
Telegraph Road (Town Lane to Pump Road) |
Newford Lane | ||
| Longstone | Telegraph Tower & Bungalows | ||
| Pelistry | Pungies Lane | ||
| Watermill | McFarlands Lane | ||
| Holy Vale | |||
| Trenoweth |
Service charges
The price you pay for your commercial waste service is based on the number of waste and recycling sacks you require to be collected/managed for your business per week. A list of prices per container, per week and an example of how the charges accumulate according to the options selected by each business are shown in the tables below. Businesses will be invoiced for the year and may elect to pay in monthly instalments by direct debit.
|
Container type |
Price per container, per week |
|---|---|
|
Residual Commercial Waste Sack (90L) |
£6.50 |
|
Paper and card for recycling (120L) |
£2.00 |
|
Plastic and cans/tins for recycling (90L) |
£2.00 |
|
Glass Bottles and jars for recycling (55L) |
£2.00 |
| Container type | Number of containers | Charge per container, per collection | Total charges per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residual commercial waste sack (90l) | 1 | £6.50 | £6.50 |
| Paper & card reusable sack (120l) | 1 | £2.00 | £2.00 |
| Plastic & cans reusable sack (90l) | 1 | £2.00 | £2.00 |
| Glass box (55l) | 1 | £2.00 | £2.00 |
| Total | 4 | N/A | £12.50 |
Further information and support
Our waste customers are also always welcome to contact the team with any questions or concerns by emailing zerowaste@scilly.gov.uk or calling 01720 424450.
Privacy Notice for the commercial waste service
The Commercial Waste Service is run by the Council of the Isles of Scilly. The Council of the Isles of Scilly is the data controller for your data.
The purpose for which we require your data is to provide a commercial waste service and to communicate with you about the service.
The legal basis for processing your personal and commercial data is that it is necessary for the performance of a contract and of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller.
Under GDPR and the DPA 2018 you have the right to:
- access information that we hold about you or have it rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete (but you will need to provide evidence before we can do so).
- have your information erased where we do not have a legal requirement to retain.
- withdraw your consent for us to hold your information.
- restrict how we process your information, e.g. object to us using your information for marketing or research purposes or in relation to a legal task or in the exercise of an official authority.
- request that a person reviews an automated decision where it has had an adverse effect on you.
If you would like to exercise these rights, please contact the environment team in the first instance by emailing environment@scilly.gov.uk or calling 01720 424450.
If you consider your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to Simon Mansell, Data Protection Officer for the Council of the Isles of Scilly by emailing dpo@scilly.gov.uk.
You can also contact the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator (casework@ico.org.uk). Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.
A copy of this privacy notice is also attached to the right-hand side of this page.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Terms and conditions for commercial waste service from 31 March 2025 | 271.43 KB |
| Privacy Notice for new Commercial Waste Service from 31 March 2025 | 344.98 KB |