When is my bin day?
Type your postcode or council name. We match you to the right local authority and take you straight to its official collection checker, in one step.
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How to find out when your bin is collected
Quick answer
To find your bin collection day, enter your full postcode in the search box above. We identify the council responsible for emptying your bins and send you directly to that council's own collection checker, where you will see your next collection date for each bin.
Bin collection in the UK is run by your local council, not by any national service, so there is no single website that lists every street. Each of the 382 councils publishes its own schedule. Your collection day is set street by street, which is why two houses on the same road can sometimes be on different rounds, and why a neighbouring town can be collected on a completely different day.
Search your postcode
A full postcode is enough. You can also type your council name if you already know it, and matching councils appear as you type.
We match your council
Your postcode is matched against official local authority boundaries, so you get the council that actually collects your bins, not the nearest town.
Straight to your dates
You land on your council's own checker. No middle pages, no account to create, and the dates you see come from the council itself.
What each bin colour means in the UK
There is no national colour standard. Councils chose their own when kerbside recycling rolled out, so a green bin can mean recycling in one town and garden waste twenty miles away. These are the most common patterns.
Black or grey bin
General household waste that cannot be recycled. Nappies, polystyrene, broken crockery and non-recyclable packaging.
Usually collected fortnightlyGreen bin
Mixed dry recycling in most areas: plastic bottles, tins, cans and clean card. Some councils use green for garden waste instead.
Weekly or fortnightlyBlue bin
Paper and cardboard where councils separate them, or all dry recycling together where a single recycling bin is used.
Usually fortnightlyBrown bin
Garden waste: grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, leaves and small branches. Many councils also take food waste in it.
Often a paid annual subscriptionWhen to put your bin out
Most UK councils start collections early and will not return for a bin that went out late, so the safest habit is to put it out the night before.
The rules that catch people out
Most councils ask for bins to be at the kerbside by 6am or 6.30am, and crews in some areas start before 6am in summer. If your bin was not out in time, the council will usually not send the lorry back.
Many councils also ask that you do not put bins out before a set time the evening before, often 6pm, to keep pavements clear. The bin lid must close fully, and side waste left next to the bin is normally left behind.
Every nation, every council
Bin collection is a local service, so the rules change the moment you cross a council boundary. We cover all four UK nations.
District, borough, city, unitary and metropolitan councils, including all 32 London boroughs.
Every Scottish unitary authority, from the Scottish Borders up to Orkney and Shetland.
All Welsh county and county borough councils, with Welsh language services where offered.
All eleven Northern Ireland district councils, which run their own separate collection systems.
Bin day questions, answered
Straight answers to what people actually ask about UK bin collections.
Enter your full postcode in the search box at the top of this page. We identify the council responsible for your address and take you to its official bin day checker, where your next collection dates are listed for each bin.
If you already know your council, you can type its name instead and pick it from the suggestions.
Most UK councils alternate weekly, with general waste one week and recycling the next. Some run a three week cycle, and garden waste is often on its own schedule that pauses over winter.
Because the rota is set street by street, the only reliable answer comes from your own council. Search your postcode above to see your exact dates.
Usually yes. Most councils move the whole week forward by one day when a bank holiday falls on a working day, so a Monday collection becomes Tuesday and Friday becomes Saturday.
Christmas and New Year often have a completely revised schedule published in early December, and garden waste collections frequently pause for several weeks over winter.
Most councils ask for bins to be at the kerbside by 6am or 6.30am on collection day. Crews often start earlier in summer, so putting the bin out the night before is the safer habit.
Many councils also set an earliest time, commonly 6pm the evening before, to keep pavements clear overnight.
There has never been a national standard. Each council picked its own colours when kerbside recycling was introduced, and many inherited different systems when councils merged.
That is why a green bin means recycling in one borough and garden waste in the next. Always follow the guidance from your own council rather than what you were used to at a previous address.
Collection rounds are planned at street level and change as councils reorganise routes, so the only accurate source is the council's own system. Rather than copy dates that may go stale, we send you straight to the page the council keeps up to date.
Yes, completely free. There is no sign up, no app to download and no email address required. We are an independent service and are not affiliated with any local authority.
Popular UK councils
Go straight to the official bin collection checker for the most searched councils in the UK.