Sofa removal in Birmingham

The law makes you responsible for who takes your waste. Book through scrapmarket and the checks and the paperwork are done for you:

• We check the collector’s waste carrier licence on the Environment Agency register before they can quote, and again every night. If it lapses, they can’t quote.
• We check their insurance, and their photo ID against a selfie.
• When they collect, they record their van’s registration and the licensed site your waste is going to.
• Your waste transfer note is made for you when you confirm the collection, and kept in your account.
• We pay the collector only once we’ve reviewed proof that your waste got to that site.
• If your waste is ever fly-tipped anyway, we’ll report the collector to the Environment Agency and the council, and cover any fine. Here’s how that works.

Birmingham City Council’s bulky waste service collects large items that won’t fit in a bin, but it has stopped taking new bookings because of the bin strike by Unite the Union. Its strike FAQ says the service is suspended until further notice. Collections booked before the pause still go ahead. Both pages still said so when we checked on 9 October 2026.

When the service is running, you book a date with the council and there’s a charge. One booking covers up to 10 items, and electrical items are collected separately, sometimes on a different day.

Until then, the council has two mobile household waste centres. They visit ten places a week, mornings only, and take bulky items including furniture. You don’t need to book or bring ID, but they’re for household waste only, and they’re not taking waste from vans during the strike. What the bin strike means for the rest of your rubbish.

Checked 9 October 2026. Sources are at the end of the page.

Birmingham’s five household recycling centres are run for the council by Veolia, and Veolia’s list of what they take includes sofas and upholstered furniture. You need to book a slot and bring proof that you live in Birmingham, such as a driving licence or a council tax bill.

If the sofa needs a van or a large trailer, that’s a separate van booking. Every site except Tyseley has a 2.1 metre height limit.

• Castle Bromwich, Tameside Drive, B35 7AG

  Cars can come without a booking for now; vans still book.

• Kings Norton, Lifford Lane, B30 3JJ

  Being rebuilt, with fewer slots and no vans or trailers until the work is done.

• Perry Barr, Holford Drive, B42 2TU

• Sutton Coldfield, Norris Way, B75 7BB

• Tyseley, James Road, B11 2BA

  The one site with no height limit, so the one to book for a high-top van.

Checked 9 October 2026. Sources are at the end of the page.

Kings Norton is the one Birmingham centre whose published list names POPs, the stream for upholstered seating, as a material of its own. Veolia’s list for the sites as a whole puts sofas and upholstered furniture under bulky waste.

So if you take a sofa yourself, keep it whole and ask the staff which container it goes in. Why it has to be kept apart is explained below.

Checked 9 October 2026. Sources are at the end of the page.

Old sofas, armchairs and other upholstered seats may contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs), chemicals once used as flame retardants. In England they must be destroyed by incineration. They can’t go to landfill or be recycled, and they should be kept apart from other waste.

The rules cover sofa beds, armchairs, footstools, futons, bean bags, large cushions and upholstered dining, kitchen and office chairs too. Mattresses, beds and curtains aren’t covered.

When your job includes a sofa, we tell your collector to keep it separate in the van and take it to a site that sends it for incineration. Your waste transfer note records it as POPs waste.

If it’s in good condition, a furniture charity or reuse shop may take it. Most ask for the fire safety label to still be attached, so check before you book anything.

You’d need to make the checks on your own: look up their licence on the Environment Agency register (our free checker does it in seconds), note their van registration, ask where your waste is going, and keep a waste transfer note. Through scrapmarket, that’s all done for you.