Reading: which bins go out tonight?
Find your bin collection schedule, what goes in each bin, and when it's collected in Reading.
Use the app to enter your postcode and get tonight's answer.
What Reading collects
Mixed recycling or cans
Recycling (usually red)
What goes in:
- Plastic bottles (e.g. drinks, milk, toiletries, detergent, cleaning bottles with trigger sprays)
- Plastic pots (e.g. yoghurt, cream, snack, soup)
- Plastic trays (e.g. fruit punnets, meat/cake trays)
- Plastic tubs (e.g. ice cream, margarine, sweets tubs)
- Paper and card
- Cartons (Tetra Pak) cartons (e.g. juice, milk, soup cartons)
- Clean foil and foil trays
- Tins and cans (e.g. drink cans, food tins, biscuit or sweet tins – please rinse)
- Empty aerosol cans (e.g. deodorant, air freshener, hairspray, de-icer)
- Shredded paper (must be contained in a small cardboard box or envelope)
- Toothpaste tubes
What doesn't go in:
- Plastic bags, film and wrapping
- Black plastic trays
- Glass bottles and jars
- Kitchen towels, tissues or wet wipes
- Food waste
- Nappies and sanitary products
- Coffee cups
- Textiles (clothing, bedding, duvets)
- Polystyrene
- Trade or business waste
- Any other items
Source: www.reading.gov.uk
Food waste
Food waste bin
What goes in:
- All uneaten food, plate or bowl scrapings, out of date or mouldy food
- Dairy products (cheese, eggs, and egg shells, yoghurts)
- Bread, cakes and pastries
- Raw and cooked meat and bones
- Raw and cooked fish and fish bones
- Raw and cooked fruit and vegetables and peelings
- Rice, pasta and beans
- Tea and coffee bags and grounds
- Pet food
- Cooking oil – sealed in a plastic bottle and put inside your outdoor food waste bin
What doesn't go in:
- Packaging or trays of any kind (including compostable or biodegradable packaging)
- Large amounts of liquids such as milk
- Garden waste and cut flowers
- Pet waste, litter or bedding
- Any material that isn’t food
- Trade or business waste
Source: www.reading.gov.uk
Rubbish
General rubbish(usually grey)
What goes in:
- Non-recyclable rubbish
- Nappies
- Hygiene waste (incontinence articles, catheters etc.)
- Pet waste
What doesn't go in:
- Builders rubble or construction waste
- Soil
- Lawn cuttings, leaves and twigs
- Hazardous waste
- Trade or business waste
- Food waste
- Items that can go in your recycling bin or to a bring bank
- Other clinical waste
Source: www.reading.gov.uk
Garden waste
Green bin or bag
What goes in:
- Grass and hedge cuttings
- Leaves, plants and weeds
- Untreated wood and branches up to 100mm thick
What doesn't go in:
- Food waste (including fruit and vegetables)
- Treated wood
- Turf or soil
- Garden furniture
- Pet bedding or litter
- Gravel or rubble
- Trade waste (including waste from a gardener or other contractor working on your property)
- Plastic bags and wrappers
Source: www.reading.gov.uk
What Reading says about bin day
-
Reading says you can make recycling easier by using different bins or bags within your home.
From Reading's website (checked 2026-10-21)
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Reading says to put a small electrical item in a clear carrier bag next to your red recycling bin on collection day.
From Reading's website (checked 2026-10-21)
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Reading says to put household batteries in a clear plastic bag on the top of your recycling bin on collection day.
From Reading's website (checked 2026-10-21)
Find your bin day
Enter your postcode in the Is It Bin Day? app to see exactly which bins go out tonight.
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