East Hertfordshire: which bins go out tonight?
Find your bin collection schedule, what goes in each bin, and when it's collected in East Hertfordshire.
Use the app to enter your postcode and get tonight's answer.
What East Hertfordshire collects
Food waste
Food waste caddy
What goes in:
- Bones (meat or fish)
- Bread
- Coffee grounds
- Dairy
- Egg shells
- Fish
- Food scrapings
- Fruit
- Fruit peelings
- Leftover food
- Meat - raw or cooked
- Peelings (fruit and vegetables)
- Shellfish
- Tea bags
- Uncooked food
- Vegetable peelings
- Cooked meat
- Plate scrapings
East Hertfordshire says: Dairy: Not including milk.
Source: www.eastherts.gov.uk
Paper and cardboard
Blue-lidded cardboard and paper bin
What goes in:
- Books (beyond reuse) - pages only (remove cover and spine)
- Brochures
- Cardboard boxes (e.g. cereal boxes, delivery boxes)
- Cardboard egg boxes
- Cardboard sandwich boxes (including the plastic window, if clean from residue)
- Cardboard sleeves (e.g. ready meal sleeves)
- Cardboard tubes (e.g. from inside toilet rolls and kitchen roll)
- Catalogues
- Cereal Boxes
- Corrugated cardboard
- Egg boxes (cardboard)
- Envelopes including windows (brown)
- Envelopes including windows (white)
- Hard covers (from catalogues and books)
- Holiday brochures
- Junk mail including
- Kitchen roll tubes
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Office paper
- Paper
- Paper (office, mail, newspaper, magazines, white envelopes)
- Phone directories
- Post-it notes
- Potato sacks (think brown paper) - please cut off the string top and place in the purple-lidded non-recycling bin
- Pringles tube (new version - no metal base)
- Shiny cardboard (that will tear and has no plastic coating)
- Shredded paper
- Telephone directories
- Toilet roll tubes
- Toys (cardboard packaging) - remove any plastic film or polystyrene
- Wrapping paper - plain brown or printed paper, no foil or metallic effected
- Yellow Pages
- Paper plates
- Corrugated card
- Cardboard packaging
- White and coloured paper
East Hertfordshire says: All mixed recycling, cardboard and paper must be placed loose (not bagged) in your recycling bins to avoid being mistaken for contamination.
Source: www.eastherts.gov.uk
Mixed recycling or cans
Black-lidded bin
What goes in:
- Aerosol cans
- Aluminium foil
- Bags (plastic)
- Biscuit/chocolate tins
- Black sacks
- Bottles, glass - any colour (e.g. wine, beer, spirits)
- Bottles, plastic
- Bubble wrap
- Butter tubs
- Cans
- Cardboard packets lined with metal (e.g. gravy granules, cocoa powder)
- Carrier bags
- Cartons (food and drink)
- Cat food pouches (with silver lining)
- Cellophane
- Cereal packets - inner liners (plastic)
- Chocolate and biscuit tubs and trays
- Cleaner and detergent bottles (e.g. bathroom cleaners, washing up liquid, bleach)
- Cling film
- Crisp and sweet packets or wrappers
- Disposable drinking cups (plastic)
- Drinks bottles (e.g. juice, squash, milk)
- Drinks cans
- Drinks cartons (e.g. juices and milk)
- Egg boxes (plastic)
- Film lids from the pots or trays
- Flower pots - plastic (small only)
- Foil
- Foil trays (e.g. take-away trays)
- Foil/plastic wrapping (e.g. crisp packets, chocolate wrappers)
- Food and drink cartons (e.g. TetraPak©)
- Food cartons (e.g. soups)
- Food tins
- Fruit punnets
- Glass bottles and jars (lids can be recycled)
- Ice-cream tubs (plastic)
- Jars (e.g. sauces, jam, baby food) - lids can be recycled
- Laminated plastic food/drink pouches (e.g. baby food pouches, cat food pouches or coffee pouches.
- Lids (metal or plastic)
- Margarine tubs
- Metal lids and tops
- Metal tins (biscuit/chocolate -including lids)
- Microwave meal trays (including black plastic)
- Milk bottles (lids can be recycled)
- Netting - plastic (e.g. orange nets)
- Other glass bottles (e.g. perfume, aftershave, face/body cream)
- Pet food pouches
- Plant pots - plastic
- Plastic bags (e.g. carrier bags, compostable bags, bread, salad, fruit/veg bags, frozen food bags
- Plastic bottles (all drink, detergent, shampoo bottles)
- Plastic films (from ready meals)
- Plastic food tubs, pots and trays - excluding black plastic
- Plastic sweet containers
- Plastic sweet wrappers
- Plastic wrapping (includes food wrappers)
- Plastic sweet tubs
- Pots (e.g. yogurt, soup)
- Resealable plastic packets (e.g. containing cheese, sandwich bags)
- Seed trays - no larger than 30cm
- Shrink wrap
- TetraPaks©/Cartons
- Tins (food, biscuit, chocolate)
- Tin foil
- Toiletries and other bathroom bottles (e.g. shampoo, shower gel)
- Toothpaste tubes
- Trays/punnets (e.g. meat trays, takeaway trays, fruit/veg trays, excluding black plastic)
- Tubs (e.g. margarine, ice cream)
- Wrappers (e.g. from sweets, biscuits)
- Wrapping - plastic (e.g. from around magazines)
- Yogurt pots
- Yogurt pot lids
- Plastic plates
East Hertfordshire says: Please ensure that all your recycling is loose in the bin, not bagged up
Source: www.eastherts.gov.uk
Rubbish
Purple-lidded bin
What goes in:
- Ash (coal or wood - once cooled)
- Baby/make-up wipes
- Balloons (latex)
- Biodegradable packaging
- Biros
- Blister packs (for pills)
- Brita water filter cartridges
- Candles
- Cat litter
- CDs
- Ceramics
- Chewing gum
- Christmas cards
- Cigarette ends
- Coffee cups (disposable)
- Coffee pods
- Corks (real or plastic)
- Cotton buds
- Cotton reels
- Cotton wool/make up pads
- Crockery (broken)
- Disposable cutlery
- Disposable drinking cups (cardboard)
- Disposable nappies
- Disposable razor blades
- Dog waste
- Drinking glasses
- DVD cases
- Egg boxes (polystyrene)
- Foam food trays and food packaging
- Frying pans
- Gift bags
- Glass cookware (e.g. Pyrex dishes, drinking glasses, vases, ceramics)
- Glasses - drinking
- Greaseproof paper
- Greetings cards
- Hoover bags and dust
- Ice-cream tubs (cardboard)
- Incontinence wear
- Inflatables (e.g. paddling pools, lilos etc.)
- J Cloths
- Jiffy bag envelopes
- Kitchen towels
- Knives
- Latex gloves
- Light bulbs (halogen)
- Light bulbs (old style)
- Medicine pill packets (e.g. blister packs)
- Napkins/serviettes
- Nappies
- Padded envelopes (e.g. Jiffy bags)
- Paper towels and tissues
- Parchment/baking paper
- Pencils
- Pet litter (carnivorous)
- Pet faeces (bagged)
- Photo negatives
- Photographic paper
- Pill (blister) packs
- Polystyrene (e.g. cups and packaging material)
- Pyrex
- Razor blades
- Ring binders
- Rubber gloves
- Sanitary products (wrapped)
- Sanitary towels
- Saucepans
- Sellotape
- Shiny cardboard (that has plastic coating)
- Shower curtain
- Sponges and loofahs
- Sticky labels and backing paper
- Styrofoam
- Tablet packets (plastic and foil)
- Tape
- Tissues
- Tupperware
- Washing powder boxes
- Wallpaper
- Water filter cartridges (e.g. Brita)
- Wax crayons
- Weed control fabric
- Wet wipes
- Woodchip wallpaper
- Polystyrene
- Disposable nappies and wipes
- Cat or dog waste
East Hertfordshire says: Bins that contain incorrect items (for example, plastic in your cardboard and paper bin, or food waste in your non-recyclable bin) will not be emptied
Source: www.eastherts.gov.uk
What East Hertfordshire says about bin day
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East Hertfordshire says bins with incorrect items will not be emptied and a contamination sticker will be left on the bin.
From East Hertfordshire's website (checked 2026-10-21)
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East Hertfordshire says all mixed recycling, cardboard and paper must be placed loose, not bagged, in your recycling bins.
From East Hertfordshire's website (checked 2026-10-21)
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