Bristol: which bins go out tonight?
Find your bin collection schedule, what goes in each bin, and when it's collected in Bristol.
Use the app to enter your postcode and check the collection dates available for your address.
What Bristol collects
Rubbish
Black wheelie bin
What goes in:
- Only put waste that can't be recycled into your black wheelie bin.
What doesn't go in:
- Don't put out any extra rubbish bags for collection
Bristol says: Put your black wheelie bin out for collection by 6am on your collection day
Food waste
Brown food waste bin and caddy
What goes in:
- bread, pasta, cereal and rice
- cooked and uncooked food
- dairy products and egg shells
- fruit and vegetable peelings or waste
- leftover food and plate scrapings
- meat, fish and bones
- tea bags, tea leaves and coffee grounds
What doesn't go in:
- any other household waste
- glass: put in your black recycling box
- shredded paper: put in a paper bag or envelope inside your blue bag
- cardboard: put in your blue bag
Bristol says: This is the food waste bin you put out on your collection day every week.
Paper and cardboard
Blue recycling bag
What goes in:
- cardboard
- brown paper
- clean food and drink cartons (including Tetra Pak)
- paper
- shredded paper in a paper bag or envelope inside your blue bag
What doesn't go in:
- cardboard that's heavily contaminated with food, for example pizza boxes
- paper cups, these are coated with plastic and aren't recyclable
- any other recycling
Bristol says: From Thursday 28 May 2026 paper should go into the blue recycling bag.
black-box
Black recycling box
What goes in:
- batteries, including household rechargeable, they must be in a small clear untied bag
- glass bottles and jars, rinsed out, the lids for these go with your cans in the red recycling bag
- small electrical items, must be put in an untied plastic bag
What doesn't go in:
- aerosol cans, put in your red recycling bag
- aluminium foil and containers, put in your red recycling bag
- broken glass, this goes in your black wheelie bin, wrapped in paper, bagged, and labelled
- brown paper, put in your blue recycling bag
- cardboard, put in your blue recycling bag
- coffee pods or capsules
- cooking oil, you can take it to a household waste recycling centre
- disposable face masks or face coverings, put them in your black wheelie bin
- engine oil, please take to the household recycling centre
- foil crisp packets, put in your black wheelie bin
- food and drink cans, put in your red recycling bag
- food and drink cartons, put in your blue recycling bag
- food waste, put in your brown food waste bin
- glass, such as window, drinking or pyrex glasses
- glasses, take to the household recycling centre
- household rubbish, put in your black wheelie bin
- light bulbs, take to your local recycling centre
- pillows, duvets, puffer jackets
- pet food pouches
- plastic bags
- plastic, put in your red recycling bag
- rags or textiles that can't be worn or used, take them to a household waste recycling centre
- shoes, take them to the household waste recycling centre
- wallpaper
- wet textiles, clean and dry them for recycling
- wrapping paper, such as Christmas or birthday paper
Bristol says: Don't put your recyclable items in a black bag or bin liner as they will not be taken away.
red-bag
Red recycling bag
What goes in:
- empty aerosols without lids
- plastic drinks bottles, including milk, squash, cola, ketchup
- plastic toiletry bottles, including shampoo, cleanser, shower gel
- plastic cleaning bottles, including bleach, washing up liquid
- bottle tops, lids and caps metal and plastic
- cans, rinsed and squashed food and drink cans
- foil and takeaway containers, rinsed and squashed
- plastic yogurt pots, ice cream and margarine tubs, rinsed
- plastic trays that contained meat, fruit, biscuit
What doesn't go in:
- black plastic, our machines cannot sort black plastic
- bin liners, reuse or put in your black wheelie bin
- bubble wrap, reuse or put in your black wheelie bin
- cardboard, put it in your blue cardboard bag
- carrier and plastic bags or soft plastics, use them to line your food caddy or take them to your local supermarket for recycling
- cellophane, put in your black wheelie bin
- cling film, put in your black wheelie bin
- crisp packets, put in your black wheelie bin
- hard plastics such as flower pots, toys, videos or drain pipes, take them to your local recycling centre or a charity shop
- light bulbs, take to your local recycling centre
- polystyrene, put in your black wheelie bin
- wrapping paper, such as Christmas paper
Bristol says: You should keep your bag off the pavement between your recycling collections.
Garden waste
Green garden waste bin
What goes in:
- Branches, up to 5cm or 4 inches in thickness
- Flowers
- Grass cuttings
- Hedge prunings
- Leaves
- Leaves and bark
- Plants
- Straw or sawdust, bedding material from pets such as gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits, as long as fed a vegetarian diet
- Twigs
- Weeds, no Japanese Knotweed
What doesn't go in:
- Cardboard, put this in your blue bag
- Cat, dog or other pet litter
- Compost
- Cooked and uncooked food, put this in your brown food bin
- Japanese Knotweed
- Nappies
- Plant pots
- Plastic bags or packaging
- Soil and turf
- Stone or rubble
- Treated wood
- Vacuum cleaner contents
Bristol says: Garden waste is normally collected every 2 weeks and is only available to domestic properties.
What Bristol says about bin day
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Bristol says green recycling boxes are being replaced by larger red recycling bags between September and November 2026.
From Bristol's website (checked 2026-10-23)
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Bristol says paper goes in the blue recycling bag from Thursday 28 May 2026.
From Bristol's website (checked 2026-10-23)
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Bristol says recycling in a black bag or bin liner will not be taken away.
From Bristol's website (checked 2026-10-23)
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Bristol says only put waste that can't be recycled into your black wheelie bin.
From Bristol's website (checked 2026-10-23)
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Bristol says put your black wheelie bin out by 6am on your collection day.
From Bristol's website (checked 2026-10-23)
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Bristol says the brown food waste bin is put out on your collection day every week.
From Bristol's website (checked 2026-10-23)
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Bristol says garden waste is normally collected every 2 weeks, for domestic properties only.
From Bristol's website (checked 2026-10-23)
Find your bin day
Enter your postcode in the app to check the collection dates available for your address.
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