What Bristol Waste does

Bristol Waste Company is a Teckal company wholly-owned by Bristol City Council, incorporated in 2016 and headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. The company provides municipal waste collection, recycling, and street cleansing services to all 200,000+ Bristol households, operating a kerbside sorting system across multiple container types (black box for glass, green box for plastics and metals, blue bag for paper and card, brown bin for food waste, and an optional subscription garden waste service), supplemented by three Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (Avonmouth, St Philips, Hartcliffe Way) with on-site Reuse Shops, an Avonmouth sorting and processing facility, and ancillary services including bulky waste collection, street cleansing, fly-tip clearance, graffiti removal, winter gritting, and community engagement programmes such as the Big Tidy and Waste Nothing Challenge.

The commercial division, branded Bristol Waste Commercial, sells waste management, commercial recycling, cleaning, security (NSI Gold-approved, including cash-in-transit and CCTV), and IT asset disposal services to 500+ businesses across the Bristol region. Customer logos span healthcare (Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital), utilities (Bristol Water), education/tourism (We The Curious, Ilminster Avenue Nursery School), and civic buildings. Pricing across household lines includes an annual garden waste subscription of £52.50 (or £25 for benefit recipients), pay-as-you-go bulky waste from £25, and unit-priced DIY waste disposal at £2.90–£11 per bag/sheet; commercial contracts are bespoke and recurring.

The business model is anchored on a guaranteed council contract (subscription/recurring), supplemented by commercial subscription contracts, an annual garden-waste subscription stream, and transaction-based Reuse Shop sales (with 25% of profits routed to charity). The company reinvests surplus into local services rather than distributing to shareholders, operates with 800+ employees, and holds ISO 9001, 14001, 27001, and 41001 certifications alongside NSI Gold, BS EN 15713, BICSc, Real Living Wage, and Disability Confident accreditations. Reported operational throughput includes 21.9 million refuse and recycling collections per year, 71,000+ tonnes recycled annually, 41,000+ miles of streets cleaned, and £30M+ in social value impact.

Name

Bristol Waste

Legal name

Bristol Waste Company

Website

https://bristolwastecompany.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Bristol Waste Company, a Teckal company wholly-owned by Bristol City Council, delivers municipal waste collection, recycling, street cleansing, and commercial facilities services to 200,000+ households and 500+ businesses across Bristol, UK.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Waste Management Services

NAICS

Waste Collection (5621), Solid Waste Collection (562111), Materials Recovery Facilities (562920)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Recycling Transfer & Consolidation (Single-Stream, Dual-Stream, Source-Separated) (EUAIABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Post-Consumer Plastic Collection & Sorting (MRF/PRF, Bale Supply) (EUAIAKAA)

Keywords

• Municipal waste collection
• Household recycling services
• Commercial waste management
• Street cleansing services
• Reuse and recycling centres

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Contract Revenue: As a Teckal company wholly-owned by Bristol City Council, Bristol Waste operates under contract to deliver essential public services including household waste collection, recycling, street cleansing, and civic building maintenance. Contract revenue funds core operations.
2. Commercial Business Services: Growing commercial operation serving businesses across the Bristol region with waste management, recycling, cleaning, facilities management, and security services. Revenue generated from business contracts supplements the public service mandate.
3. Reuse Shop Sales: Three Reuse Shops at Household Reuse and Recycling Centres sell second-hand goods. 25% of profits go to charity, with remaining profits reinvested into running the reuse shops and supporting the community.
4. Garden Waste Collection Subscription: Optional subscription service for fortnightly garden waste collections. Annual subscription with tiered pricing based on benefit status.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Bristol Waste Company provides kerbside household waste and recycling collection across Bristol, operates three Household Reuse and Recycling Centres with on-site Reuse Shops, and delivers commercial waste management, cleaning, security, and IT asset disposal services to businesses. The company is a Teckal company wholly-owned by Bristol City Council and reinvests profits into local services. Its portfolio spans over 200,000 homes, 500+ business customers, and three physical recycling sites.

Product overview

Bristol Waste Company operates as a Teckal company owned by Bristol City Council, providing integrated waste management, recycling, and facilities services across Bristol. The portfolio consists of two main service streams: Household Services (kerbside refuse and recycling collections, food and garden waste services, three Household Reuse and Recycling Centres with on-site Reuse Shops, street cleansing, and community engagement programs including the Big Tidy and Waste Nothing Challenge), and Commercial Services (business waste management, recycling, cleaning, security, and IT asset disposal). The household division uses a kerbside sorting system with separate containers for glass, plastics/metals, paper/card, and food waste, while commercial services operate as a growing regional business unit. Key add-on offerings include garden waste subscriptions, bulky waste collections, bike trailer hire, the Digital Inclusion Scheme for refurbished IT equipment, and litter picking kit programs. The company also runs the Avonmouth multi-million-pound sorting and processing facility and maintains a network of Reuse Shops that have diverted over 350,000 items.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bristol Waste Commercial: Commercial division of Bristol Waste providing facilities services including waste management, cleaning, and security to businesses across the region.

Products and services

• Kerbside Household Collection Services (including Get It Sorted kerbside recycling)
• Garden Waste Collection Service
• Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (HRRC)
• Reuse Shops
• Commercial Waste Management (including Commercial Recycling)
• Commercial Cleaning Services
• Commercial Security Services
• IT Asset Disposal
• Street Cleansing
• Bulky Waste Collection

Quantifiable outcome

• 21.9 million refuse and recycling collections per year
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bristol City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs a Teckal company wholly-owned by Bristol City Council, Bristol Waste operates under contract to deliver essential public services. The partnership helps deliver Bristol's sustainability targets in partnership with the council and the One City Plan. Bristol City Council owns the company and sets strategic direction.
• Bristol City Council - Digital Inclusion SchemecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigital Inclusion Scheme in partnership with Bristol City Council to help close Bristol's digital divide and keep functional tech out of the waste stream. The scheme has refurbished and redistributed more than 3,000 computers, laptops and mobile phones.
• City To SeaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental organization contributing to the Waste Nothing Challenge. Provides expertise in waste reduction and sustainability behavior change campaigns.
• St Peter's HospiceminorOthersCharity partner that has received over £50,000 in donations from Bristol Waste's Reuse Shop profits. 25% of Reuse Shop profits go to charity.
• One City Plan PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBristol Waste is a major city partner helping deliver the One City Plan and One City Climate Strategy, contributing to the city's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Veolia UK: Veolia UK is the largest private-sector waste management operator in the UK, providing municipal collection contracts, recycling, and treatment services. It is directly comparable to Bristol Waste across the household collection, commercial waste, HRRC, and materials recovery value chain, but at national scale.
• Biffa: Biffa is a UK-listed integrated waste management company operating municipal collection contracts, recycling, skip hire, and commercial waste services. It competes with Bristol Waste for both council tenders and regional commercial accounts, and operates comparable MRFs and HRRC-style infrastructure.
• FCC Environment UK: FCC Environment UK provides municipal waste collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal services for local authorities across the country. It is a direct competitor to Bristol Waste for council contracts and operates comparable household recycling and reuse infrastructure.
• Suez Recycling and Recovery UK: Suez operates UK municipal waste collection, recycling, and recovery services, including materials recovery facilities analogous to Bristol Waste's Avonmouth operation. It is a credible alternative bidder for any Bristol-area council or commercial contract.
• Serco Environmental Services: Serco delivers outsourced environmental services including waste collection, street cleansing, and recycling for UK local authorities. Its council-services model mirrors Bristol Waste's Teckal-style public service mandate, though at national scale and across multiple geographies.
• Amey: Amey provides waste collection, street cleansing, and environmental services to UK local authorities alongside broader infrastructure services. It is a direct alternative bidder for the kinds of municipal contracts that anchor Bristol Waste's revenue base.

Direct peers

• Grundon Waste Management: Grundon is a large UK private waste management company providing commercial and municipal waste collection, recycling, and skip hire across the South of England. Its regional South-West footprint overlaps directly with Bristol Waste's commercial catchment.
• Manchester Waste Collection Services: Manchester's council-delivered waste collection and street cleansing service is the closest structural analogue to Bristol Waste: a single-city, local-authority-operated household waste and recycling operation with similar scale and public-service mandate.

Regional players

• Yorwaste: Yorwaste is a local-authority-owned waste management company serving North Yorkshire councils with household collection, recycling, and HRRC operations. Its Teckal-equivalent ownership structure and service mix closely mirror Bristol Waste's operating model in a different region.
• Severn Trent Green Power: Severn Trent Green Power operates anaerobic digestion and organics processing facilities in the West Midlands and South West, including food waste processing. Its regional organics-recovery footprint complements Bristol Waste's MRF and food waste collection activities within overlapping geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bristolwaste
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC819FAQnSV4KiO2cTfdBQsA
• Facebookfacebook.com/bristolwaste
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bristol-waste-company
• Instagraminstagram.com/bristolwastecompany

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bristol Waste