How to check your Brighton bin collection day, why communal bins in the centre work differently from kerbside wheelie bins, and what goes in each one.

Brighton bin collection is not one service, it is two, and which one you are on depends on the street you live in rather than the postcode. Homes in much of the city have their own wheelie bins and boxes collected on a set weekday. Homes in the dense central terraces and around the seafront share large communal bins on the pavement, which are emptied on a rolling daily schedule and have no collection day to look up at all. Almost every confused search about bin days in this city comes down to not knowing which of those two you are on. This guide sets both out, with everything linked back to Brighton & Hove City Council.

The quick answer

If you have your own green wheelie bin outside your house, you have a collection day and you can look it up in seconds. If you carry your rubbish to a big shared black bin on the street, you do not have one: those bins are emptied on a daily round. Either way, the council’s check your bin, box and caddy collection days tool is the authoritative source, and it now shows the live progress of your collection as well as the day.

How to check your Brighton bin collection day

Go to the council’s collection day checker and enter your address. It returns the next collection date for your rubbish, your recycling, your food waste and, if you subscribe, your garden waste. The council added real-time tracking to the same tool, so you can see whether the crew has already been down your road before you assume you have been missed (bank holidays and collections).

There is no city-wide calendar to download, because rounds differ street by street. The checker is the only place your own dates live.

The two services, and how to tell which one you are on

How household waste is collected in Brighton & Hove
If you haveWhereRubbishRecyclingFood waste
Your own bins and boxesResidential streets outside the centreGreen wheelie bin, set dayBlack bin or box, set day23 litre outdoor caddy, set day
Communal on-street binsDense central terracesLarge shared black bin, daily roundsShared recycling and glass binsSecure communal food bin
Shared bins in a bin storeBlocks of flatsLarge shared binsShared mixed and glass binsShared food waste wheelie bin

Sources: the council’s guidance on wheelie bins, communal rubbish bins, communal recycling bins and food waste collections.

If you have your own bins

Your general rubbish goes in a green wheelie bin, bagged. Recycling goes in a black wheelie bin or black box: the council says that if you live in a residential area outside the city centre you are likely to be on the black bin or box service. Glass is kept separate from everything else, in a black box or a local communal glass bin, with metal lids left on and plastic lids taken off (how to use your recycling bins and boxes).

If you use communal on-street bins

The large shared bins on central streets take non-recyclable household waste only, with separate shared bins nearby for mixed recycling and for glass. There is no weekday to remember. In July 2026 the council confirmed that communal refuse and recycling “would remain on a daily collection schedule”, and that work is under way to improve that part of the service specifically (more investment to improve bin collections).

That is the honest picture: convenient in that you can take rubbish out any time, frustrating in that when a bin is full there is no scheduled empty to wait for. Overfilled communal bins are reported through the council’s report a problem route.

If you live in a block of flats

Flats usually have large shared bins in a bin store rather than on the pavement: one or more for rubbish, at least one for glass, and others for mixed recycling, clearly labelled with recycling stickers (communal recycling bins).

What goes in the recycling

The same list applies to a kerbside black bin, a box or a communal recycling bin: tins and cans, empty aerosols, clean flattened cardboard, paper including window envelopes but not shredded paper, plastic bottles rinsed and squashed with the lids on, plastic pots, tubs and trays, non-black plastic plant pots kept separate rather than stacked, and empty toothpaste tubes. Glass bottles and jars are kept apart in the glass box or communal glass bin.

What the crews will not take in any of them: electrical items, clothes, garden waste, batteries and anything that cannot go in a wheelie bin. The council’s A to Z of recycling covers the awkward cases.

Food waste: now available across the whole city

Weekly food waste collection was rolled out in stages and finished in March 2026. Collections began in the east of the city in September 2025, with further phases in October and December, and the final and biggest phase covering 76,000 households in central Brighton and Hove, Hanover, Kemptown, Queen’s Park, Roundhill, Seven Dials and Whitehawk started on Monday 9 March 2026. That completed the service for just over 136,000 properties, at a cost of £1.2 million, and involved installing 600 communal on-street food bins (food waste collections start in central areas).

Every household gets a free 5 litre kitchen caddy and a starter pack of compostable liners. What you get outside depends on where you live: a 23 litre outdoor caddy if you have your own wheelie bin, a shared food waste wheelie bin in a block of flats, or a secure communal food bin on a communal street.

Cooked and uncooked food both go in, including meat and bones, fish and shells, eggshells, dairy, bread, pasta and rice, fruit and vegetables, tea bags and coffee grounds, and a small amount of pet food. Packaging, liquids, coffee pods, cardboard and garden waste do not, even when labelled compostable (what goes in your food waste caddy). Liners must be marked EN 13432 or EN 14955 and carry the seedling logo.

Garden waste is a paid subscription

Garden waste is not part of the free service. A subscription costs £102 a year for a 240 litre bin collected every two weeks, apart from a winter break, and from 23 June 2026 a £20 setup fee applies to each new subscription. Subscriptions now run to a fixed year from 1 April to 31 March, with new sign-ups after 1 June 2026 charged pro rata. You can hold up to three subscriptions at £102 each (garden waste collections).

When to put your bins out, and where

Leave bins and boxes on or by the pavement at the front of the property, either the night before or by 6am on collection day. Food waste is earlier, by 5am, because the dedicated food crews work from 5am to 10pm. Crews will not climb walls, open gates or use steps.

On non-collection days you are expected to store containers off the pavement if you have anywhere to put them. Leaving them out can bring a warning and then a Fixed Penalty Notice (how to use wheelie bins).

If your collection is missed

Check the status in the collection checker first. If it says “completed” and your bin is still full, report it: missed collections can be reported for up to 6 days after the scheduled date. If the status is not “completed”, you cannot report it yet, because the council aims to run a catch-up within 48 hours for rubbish and food waste and 72 hours for recycling and garden waste (report a missed collection).

New bins and big items now cost money

The council has introduced a charge for new, additional and replacement rubbish bins, recycling bins and glass boxes. Food waste caddies stay free, and free containers are still provided to households receiving Free School Meals or Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit, and where crews have damaged a container (about our bin charges). Do not buy a bin elsewhere: the council will only empty containers it supplied.

Bulky collections are booked by phone and priced per item, from £25 for one item up to £120 for six, with white goods at £47, sofas and sofa beds at £45 and armchairs at £35, the last two priced separately since changes to the Persistent Organic Pollutants rules on 1 April 2026 (large and electrical household items).

What could change next

Brighton & Hove is one of the few councils still collecting household rubbish weekly: the council notes that 80% of councils collect fortnightly or less often. Cabinet agreed in January 2026 to model fortnightly kerbside rubbish collections, and residents were consulted to 20 May 2026. No decision has been taken. The council says weekly food waste and recycling collections would be unaffected, and communal collections would stay daily (help shape the future of waste collections).

Frequently asked questions

How do I find out my bin collection day in Brighton?

Enter your address in the council’s collection day checker. It gives your rubbish, recycling, food waste and garden waste dates and shows live collection progress. If you use communal on-street bins you will not have a fixed day, because those bins are emptied daily.

Why doesn’t my street have a bin day?

Because you are on communal collections. Central Brighton and Hove streets share large bins on the pavement, and the council empties them on a daily schedule rather than a weekly round, so there is no day to look up.

Is rubbish collected weekly or fortnightly in Brighton?

Weekly, for now. The council agreed in January 2026 to model a move to fortnightly kerbside rubbish collections and consulted residents in May 2026, but no decision has been made. Food waste and recycling would stay as they are.

What goes in the green bin in Brighton?

General household rubbish, contained in a bag or sack. Recyclable items, electricals, clothes, large household items, DIY waste and garden waste must not go in it.

How much is garden waste collection in Brighton?

£102 a year for a 240 litre bin emptied every two weeks, plus a £20 setup fee on new subscriptions from 23 June 2026. The subscription year runs 1 April to 31 March.

Do bin collections change on bank holidays?

The council does not publish a standing rule; it points residents to the collection checker, which shows the next date and live progress. Check it in the run-up to a bank holiday rather than assuming your usual day holds.

Sources

Elsewhere on this site: parking in Brighton, Brighton council tax bands and Brighton planning applications.

Charges and service details are those published by Brighton & Hove City Council and checked on 4 August 2026. Always confirm on the council’s own pages before you rely on a date or a price.