What's everyone's bin collection frequency?
Posted by Whizz5@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 74 comments
Recently got back to UK after being abroad for 6+ months to find that the main household waste bins are only being collected once a fortnight vs weekly.
This seems a bit ludicrous as council tax hasn't gone done and neither has household waste but the service has been halved. This seems like a cost saving exercise from the local council.
Wanted to know if this is just isolated to some London boroughs or if there have been significant changes to bin collection frequency across the UK
fussyfella@reddit
It has been two weekly for "other waste" for getting on for a couple of decades in most places with recyclable waste in the other weeks. They would argue it is still weekly and encourages better recycling practices.
Basically the main reason council tax has gone up, is that governments since the 90s (so all political shades) have used it as a way to avoid income tax increases - they push responsibilities onto local councils (especially around social and community care) that previously were central government. They give a one off grant that offsets it in the first year but as the demand grows more than inflation the burden increasingly falls on the local taxpayer. Then rather than put up council tax, they look for ways to save money in other areas, and waste management is one of them.
No-Neighborhood2213@reddit
Every 2 weeks for years in Wiltshire. Lots of rage to start with but now it’s the new norm as the world did not end.
Maximum_Scientist_85@reddit
Recycling by us is every week, but the normal bins are every fortnight. It's a bit of a nuisance as we easily create enough rubbish over 2 weeks for the black bin even though we're relatively good as far as getting recyclable packaging etc is concerned.
However, if funding for councils gets cut to the hilt (or they're expected to foot more of the bill for other things) then you have to make those savings somewhere.
DustlandFairytale85@reddit
Every 3 weeks! Is a joke. Im under wigan council. Black bin one week, blue (cardboard) one week, brown (cans/plastics) another week then repeat! Has been like this for years. Bins stink/are full within a week and a half.
essexboy1976@reddit
The nly thing that needs to go in black bins are inert non recyclables. Do you not have food waste collection?
Lonely-Job484@reddit
Food waste isn't collected separately in a lot of places, it just goes in the black bin
essexboy1976@reddit
For us it is. So for that reason a three weekly collection on black bins is perfectly fine. It would also be fine without a separate collection just have a small separate bin in the kitchen with bags in, tie and knit the bag before putting in the black bin and hey presto no smell.
sideone@reddit
Presumably you keep them outside, where the smell isn't really an issue?
Gullible_fool_99@reddit
The general waste bin is collected once every three weeks.
The recycling is collected every week.
I haven't filled the general waste bin completely for at least two years.
Osterbeast1955@reddit
Rubbish and green waste weekly.
Paper recycling and plastic glass recycling alternate weeks
Used-Needleworker719@reddit
In Suffolk, we’ve had alternate rubbish/recycling for years. I’ve been a homeowner for 18 years and it’s certainly been that way the whole time
Fwoggie2@reddit
I have news for you: https://www.midsuffolk.gov.uk/future-changes-to-bin-collections
benjymous@reddit
Northumberland - Rubbish and recycling bins collected on alternate weeks. I think that's fairly standard across a lot of the country nowadays.
Fwoggie2@reddit
Nah that's the old way. Here in Suffolk we will move next summer from the same as you to having weekly collections for grey bins, fortnightly collections for brown bins and every three week collections for green, blue and black bins.
bogusalt@reddit
3 weekly over here (Wales) for household waste. Recycling is still weekly, but 3 weekly for black bags, and can only to 3 bags per 3 weeks. £330 a month for the privilege.
essexboy1976@reddit
You realise that waste services are a minor part of local council spending right? Most goes on adult social care
Fwoggie2@reddit
Where I am we get black bin fortnightly and green bin fortnightly. Green bin is a pain because I can fill that up easily with all our households recycling (2 adults and a 4yo). Often I will leave one or two Gousto boxes stuffed with broken down cardboard next to the green wheelie bin.
Next June we will change completely to
From summer 2027 we will get a sixth bin for plastic packs / cling film / carrier bags / bubble wrap.
Ok-Friend-5304@reddit
It’s been two weekly for me for over 10 years and some places with separate food/organic collection now have their general collected only every 3 weeks
Whizz5@reddit (OP)
Every 3 weeks 🤯? What about households with families of 3+ or more people? Surely they'd overload the bins before the collection is due.
Feels like there's a subtle push to have people disposing their own trash
essexboy1976@reddit
No. Were a household of 3 and produce about 1 and a half black bags of waste every 3 weeks. Sometimes less. It perfectly feasible to not overflow your bins even with a collection every 3 weeks.
Severe_Mastodon8072@reddit
The push is for people to send less to landfill.
Fortnightly should be more than enough unless you have unusual circumstances. Three weeks does feel like pushing it though.
Rick-Daddy@reddit
If it's an HMO then councils provide additional bins.
There was an idea 20 years back when wheelie bins were widely rolled out for people to pay by weight on residual waste to encourage recycling rates. Councils got cold feet and it never happened.
mibbling@reddit
Yep we’ve had some recent info about updates to bin collections which mean a) more recyclable rubbish will be collected kerbside (including soft plastics, hallelujah!) and b) landfill rubbish will now only be collected every three weeks. My landfill bin is never full anyway tbh.
ilovewineandcats@reddit
Usually, if you have more than a certain number of children in nappies or people using incontinent pads you get a larger bin (you have to provide some proof).
It's to try and force people to recycle more (and I'm passing no comment on the success of that or the ethics). I think it's because there is a landfill tax so councils are incentivised to reduce landfill (as well as the environmental benefits).
I dont think they necessarily want people going to the tip themselves (as a lot of councils now also place restrictions on how easily you can acess that facility).
sideone@reddit
Family of four, we have weekly recycling and fortnightly bin collections. Our black wheelie bin is never full by the time its collected, you should be recycling most of your waste.
Fattydog@reddit
Ours is just moving to three weeks. It’s ridiculous.
We will get food waste collected each week but we will have to carry a full 20l bucket 75 yards up a track to where they’ll pick it up from. We’re both in our 60s.
Mischeese@reddit
Black bags weekly (5 bags maximum), Green or Blue recycling every other week.
Going to change next year to black bags every other week in stupid wheelie bin so no longer 5 bags 😭
NortonBurns@reddit
We can get about 2 ½ bags in our black bin. Two households, once a fortnight. Lots more effort to decide what will recycle, as that bin's bigger.
Mischeese@reddit
I’m going to have to get two blue recycle bins I think. Ours is normally full after about 9 days. Thankfully I have a big front garden so it’s not a big deal to add another one.
essexboy1976@reddit
Recycling ( including food waste) is every week for us. Non recyclable waste every third week.
seklas1@reddit
Once a week, but alternating. So one week it’s recyclables/garden waste and another - regular stuff.
MountainMuffin1980@reddit
Recycling one week, general waste the next week, with garden waste the day after general. Food waste is collected every week on the same day as the recycling/general waste. It works for us but we are only a family of 3
anoamas321@reddit
Mine are changing to once every 4 weeks.....
Remote-Pool7787@reddit
Every 2 weeks is standard across the UK I think. Most councils do alternate weeks. Recycling one week, general waste the next
NortonBurns@reddit
Ours went to fortnightly before covid. Can't remember quite how long ago.
Bins one week, recycle the other, but food waste every week.
Rude-Possibility4682@reddit
Big waste bins, once a fortnight in winter, every week in summer. All other recycled waste is weekly. South Wales.
Mr_Bumcrest@reddit
Why would you expect Council tax to go down? The change in frequency will be because the cost of the service has increased but your Council don't want to (or can't) increase Council Tax by the amount needed to provide a weekly service.
I don't know why people assume that costs for Council services has increased massively as a result of everything that is going on the world, it's not just food prices that have gone up.
BG3restart@reddit
Ours are three weekly, with the food caddy emptied weekly. It doesn't affect me as I live alone and could easily go for nine weeks without putting the bins out. I eat a lot of fresh food, so use the food caddy a lot for veg peelings, apple and pear cores, banana skins ... I used to have loads of yoghurt pots, but now I make my own yoghurt, so that has reduced my recycling quite a bit. Some of my neighbours have paid for a second recycling bin.
knotatwist@reddit
For us, none of them are weekly. Fortnightly garden/food waste and everything else is every 3 weeks.
I think most of Greater Manchester is on 3 weekly collections for their non-recycling bins.
Riovem@reddit
I've only lived in flats in London so mine has been collected at minimum 2 times a week and normally 4/5 days a week
Qyro@reddit
Once every 3 weeks for general waste, but we also have 4 recycling bins that go out weekly.
techbear72@reddit
Food waste - every week
Recycling - every two weeks (this is also the frequency of garden waste collection if you pay for it, it's not included where we live)
Refuse - every three weeks
DameKumquat@reddit
London - about 2 years ago the residual waste bins went down to fortnightly but recycling and food waste are every week.
Works fine - it's only the recycling bin that ever gets full. The local supermarket no longer takes excess recycling and the bin men aren't supposed to, but they will if you ask nicely - cardboard isn't too heavy.
Welshpoolfan@reddit
Yeah that's the same where I am. Landfill waste every fortnight, food waste and all recycling (spread between 3 different bins) every week.
Swimming_Possible_68@reddit
Main household bin is fortnightly, alternating with recycling and garden waste on the other week fortnightly.
And it's been this way for at least 15 years where I am in the East Midlands.
EasyCheesecake1@reddit
No idea because I live in a row of terraced flats with communal bins that magically empty at least twice a week. Recycling has to be taken to the recycling point up the road because such a high volume of flats with a normal pavement outside would be blocked by a recycling day.
pixiepot88@reddit
Scotland - every 3 weeks, for main bin and recycling, and the brown bin (garden waste - which you have to pay extra to be emptied) is every 2 weeks.
swapacoinforafish@reddit
Every other week. It rotates, normal wheelie bins one week then recycling the next. With food bins collected every week.
ShineAtom@reddit
Black bin (landfill) week 1: no side rubbish allowed. Blue bin (recycling) and green bin (garden waste) week 2. The blue bin can have side recycling eg boxes too big to fit in the bin. To be clear, we get a bin collection every week.
At present there is no food waste collection but I understand that is going to come in next year. To have the garden waste bin emptied we pay an additional £40 pa.
Council tax here is collected by the borough council on behalf of the county council, the police and fire & rescue. So the council tax we pay isn't just about bins or roads but also for policing, fire service, childrens services, adult services and any other statutory services that councils are required to provide.
Optimal_Cherry2846@reddit
Yeah it's been like this for ages in the south east. Council budgets have been cut to hell (not denying some funds are not used efficiently) and refuse will almost always take a hit first in advance of cutting adult and child care
Party_Shelter714@reddit
they have a statutory duty to provide adult and child care, so they are always the last thing to cut
oktimeforplanz@reddit
I'm in central Scotland. I've got four full size bins - general waste, food/garden waste, glass/plastic/metal, and paper/cardboard. They're all 3 weekly apart from food and garden waste which is every two weeks.
Works fine for us. I can only think of one time where we had filled our general waste bin 'too soon' relative to the collection. Paper and cardboard is the one that we occasionally find is full before the collection, but we don't live far from the recycling centre so when we end up with excess cardboard, we just run it down there instead.
SpudFire@reddit
Each one is fortnightly and has been in the two areas I've lived for about the last 20 years. Changed shortly after kerbside recycling started. Still getting two bins emptied every two weeks so it was the same amount as before really.
I have colleagues in Birmingham that were complaining not long ago because their black bin was changing from weekly to fortnightly. The rest of us were shocked that they still had weekly collections, no wonder the council ran out of money.
Starboard_1982@reddit
Black bin and food = every week, recycling every other week (but no glass, that has to go to a bottle bank)
MrBlobbu@reddit
Black bin is every 2 weeks. Recycling every week.
I live in Wales and it's been like this for at least 10 years.
My brother lives 10 minutes away from me, and he doesn't even get a black bin, just 2 bin bags every 2 weeks.
We also have mandatory recycling where you can get fined if you dont separate your recycling, which I dont think is a thing in England yet.
nohairday@reddit
Council Tax hasn't gone down, but the price of everything has gone up.
And the things that the council have to fund hasn't gone down while the money from central government is pretty low relative to outgoings.
I actually feel a bit for local governments for having to do cost saving things like this. They have to cut costs where they can while trying to manage ever increasing social care costs that central government has legally obliged them to have.
It's just more fallout from the 'austerity' years.
Which are absolutely over now. Yes, sir, indeedy. /s
Fattydog@reddit
Erm… Council Tax has gone up. A lot.
nohairday@reddit
Yes. Because everything has become more expensive. I didn't say it hadn't gone up.
HarissaPorkMeatballs@reddit
Fortnightly for years where I lived previously, with recycling alternating each week (cardboard/paper and glass/plastic/metal). Just moved and it's still every other week for general waste but recycling bins are each every four weeks. They're also only just trialling compost bins which seems a bit behind but maybe there are more councils catching up to that than I thought. I found the new system around here very confusing as the bin men also fetch the bins from alleys, which seems like a waste of time to me!
megan99katie@reddit
General waste every other week, recycling bins every 4 weeks which is just a nightmare
Silent-Frosting-461@reddit
It's been like that for us for years now. Can't even remember when it changed from weekly to fortnightly, to be honest. Agree its BS that council tax keeps rising yet they do nothing but make cuts
Whizz5@reddit (OP)
They're stealthily eroding these services. I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see private garbage disposal companies doing direct collections for certain streets and houses
Sandy_Bananas@reddit
Weekly recycling. Fortnightly black bins.
coolbodygravy@reddit
Every two weeks for my flat in High Wycombe.
First-Lengthiness-16@reddit
I get my black bin (general rubbish) collected every other week. And the my blue (paper and card) and brown (metal and glass) collected alternately on the weeks the black bin doesn’t go.
However, I moved into a new build estate a few years ago. I am on a corner plot and the side my door faces towards was on the opposite collection rotation to the side my drive is on.
For about 6 months I got black bins collected every week. I just put my bin outside my front door one week, and the at the end of my drive the next week.
Good times
Icy_Mixture1482@reddit
Every day except Wednesday and Sundays.
Mondays and Friday is general + cardboard Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday is general, glass, and plastic.
Conscious-Rope7515@reddit
I can't remember when we last had weekly collections, but it was at least 10 years ago. Your council must have been one of the last holdouts.
gillianoleary@reddit
Weekly recycling and 3 weekly general waste bin collection.
damapplespider@reddit
When I was in Southwark, one week was recycling and the other general waste. My family in Scotland have an incredibly convoluted 5 bin system which boils down to every 4th week but on different days. If you’re in a smaller property, it must be a real struggle to store the bins required
In Portsmouth, general and food waste is weekly with recycling and garden fortnightly.
Aeshma-Maeva@reddit
Some councils have definitely reduced collection to fortnightly for general waste but recycling and food waste often stay weekly. It’s mostly a cost cutting measure.
GlitzToyEternal@reddit
I think the fortnightly general waste collections are being rolled out across a lot of the UK. It's fortnightly here in Cornwall (with weekly food waste collections) and for a while my social media was full of other councils' posts about switching to the same model.
It's annoying but I don't really know how much the council are saving - the bin men still come by weekly, just for food waste rather than wheelie bins.
1HappyChappy1968@reddit
Fortnightly (alternating). Back bins one week then the blue/green bins the following week.
TrainingBike9702@reddit
Weekly for me
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