Published: Tuesday 26 August 2025
The streets of Notting Hill are clear of rubbish after Notting Hill Carnival 2025, following a busy weekend for waste collection crews in Kensington and Chelsea.
Every year, around 300 tonnes of waste are collected across the Carnival footprint, with crews working through the night on bank holiday Sunday and Monday to get the streets back to normal by Tuesday morning. About 30 per cent of the waste collected is recycled.
This year, 180 staff and around 45 waste collection vehicles from Suez, the Council’s waste collection partner, were out on the streets. They left their depot at around 10pm each evening, working until the streets were clear for the Carnival to restart and Monday and for life to return to normal on Tuesday.
The work isn’t quite done yet, with street cleaning teams and graffiti removal experts continuing to jet wash streets and basements and remove graffiti this week.
Cllr Johnny Thalassites, lead member for environment and planning, said:
“Our communities rightly expect their streets to be back to normal and ready for business by Tuesday morning after Carnival, and we’re very proud to deliver that year in, year out. It’s a major operation and I am in awe of the hard-working men and women in our waste crews who work tirelessly through the night to collect the rubbish on Sunday and Monday. The work doesn’t stop there. Over the next week we do extra jet-washing and graffiti cleaning so that the streets are back to normal, fast.”
Gary O'Hagan, Regional Manager at SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said:
“We are fully prepared for one of the biggest clean-up operations in Europe, with over 180 staff and 45 vehicles ready to be deployed across the north of the borough throughout the weekend, expected to collect over 300 tonnes of waste and recycling.
“Thanks to years of experience, we have a well-established operational plan to ensure our clean-up runs smoothly and efficiently. Our crews work incredibly hard, often through the night, to ensure that the streets are returned to normal as quickly as possible.
“We’re proud to play a key role in getting the area looking clean and tidy again after such a landmark event for the borough, with the bulk of the clean-up completed in time for Tuesday’s early morning commuters.”