Rubbish removal in Harlow and waste clearance, one item or a full load

Harlow is one of the few towns on this site with a recycling centre inside it, at Temple Bank off the A414, CM20 2DY, and it is worth knowing what that route costs before you book us, because for a car boot of bags it is the cheaper answer. The site is run by Essex County Council, opens 9am to 5pm from 1 March to 15 October and 9am to 4pm through the winter, and a slot has to be booked online first unless you are on foot, on a bike or hold a Blue Badge. Where it stops being the answer is the moment the load will not go in a car: a van needs its own pass, the site is for household waste only, and a flat above a bin store on one of the older estates does not empty itself into a hatchback three trips at a time. Harlow Council's own bulky collection is the other route and it is priced by the band, £35.50 for one to five items, £53.50 for six to eight, £77.50 for nine to twelve and £101.50 for thirteen to sixteen, with small electricals and textiles free however many you book. The catch is the sofa. Since the rules on upholstered seating changed, every padded item carries its own fee on top, £10 for a two-seater, £20 for a three or four-seater, £30 for a five or six-seater and £3 for a cushion or a padded headboard, and the upholstered pieces have to go out on the pavement in a separate pile from everything else on the booked day. A landlord clearing a two-bedroom flat at the end of a tenancy is usually looking at more than sixteen items, two sofas and a stairwell, which is where one price for the whole load, carried down and gone in one visit, is what we are for.