BinMate
Your council’s collection calendar is the place to check bank-holiday bin dates. Some services change dates; others collect normally. Do not automatically add a day to your usual collection.
Find the date for your address
- Open your council’s bin-day lookup. The GOV.UK collection finder can help you reach the relevant service.
- Select your full address, including the right flat or building.
- Check the date and waste type separately. Recycling, food and garden collections may have different arrangements.
- Read any service alert as well as the calendar. A short-notice disruption may be posted separately.
Save the current dates rather than relying on last year’s Christmas notice or an undated social-media image. Our online calendar guide explains the difference between a downloaded calendar and one that updates.
Why there is no national “one day late” rule
A council can retain its normal collections, publish a revised weekday, or use a catch-up collection. Office closure does not establish whether bin crews are working. For example, Sandwell’s summer bank-holiday notice gives its own service arrangements. That notice applies to that council and holiday, not all UK addresses.
An instruction to add one day must also explain what happens at the weekend. Do not assume a Friday collection becomes Saturday or Monday. We explain this distinction in the +1 rule guide.
Easter and Christmas need a fresh check
Good Friday and Easter Monday fall on opposite sides of a weekend, in different calendar weeks. Christmas and New Year can involve substitute holidays. The official bank-holiday list identifies holidays, but it is not a bin-collection timetable.
If a calendar has not yet been published, check back with the council. A predicted timetable should not be treated as confirmation. Keep rubbish safely stored until you know the presentation date and time.
Keep reminders aligned
A repeating phone alarm will keep its old recurrence unless you change it. Update that occurrence when the council confirms a different date, then check the next normal collection too.
BinMate shows collection information for supported addresses and can remind you about saved dates. Check the available schedule and council alerts; a reminder is not evidence that an unannounced holiday change has been applied. Features vary by platform and app version.
My bin was not collected. Should I wait two days?
Check the council’s current reporting window now. Some forms open only after the collection round finishes and close after a local deadline. Follow the council’s instructions about leaving the bin out. See what to do when a bin is not collected.
Will all my bins move together?
Not necessarily. Check each waste stream on the address calendar, especially paid garden services and communal collections.
