East Herts Refuse Collection: Bin Days, Missed Bins & Waste

Q: When can I report a missed East Herts bin?

A qualifying missed collection must be reported within two days. East Herts says not to submit the report before 4pm on the first day after the collection was missed. The bin must have been presented by 6:30am at the boundary and have no rejection sticker.

Q: How much is East Herts garden waste in 2026/27?

The 2026/27 East Herts garden waste subscription costs £61 per bin for the service year from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Subscribed garden bins are normally collected every two weeks.

Q: Can I get a larger East Herts purple bin?

Residents may apply for a 240-litre purple-lidded refuse bin where there are six or more permanent residents, two or more children under 36 months in disposable nappies, or excess non-infectious healthcare waste. Some applications require a five-week waste diary.

East Hertfordshire · current 2026 resident waste guide

East Herts Refuse Collection: Bin Days, Missed Bins & Waste

East Herts changed its household bin system substantially in August 2025. In 2026, the purple-lidded refuse bin, black-lidded mixed recycling bin and blue-lidded paper and cardboard bin each run on a three-week cycle, while food waste is collected every week.

This guide explains the current colour system, how to check the exact collection day for your property, 6:30am presentation, strict missed-bin reporting rules, contamination stickers, £61 garden waste, larger refuse bins, narrow-access properties, communal collections, clinical waste, bulky rubbish and Hertfordshire recycling-centre ePasses.

Check My Official Bin Day East Herts Missed Bin Diagnose My Bin Problem

EAST HERTS 2026

PURPLE · NON-RECYCLABLE

BLACK · MIXED RECYCLING

BLUE · PAPER & CARD

FOOD · EVERY WEEK

East Herts Bin Collection: Quick Answer

Do not use the old pre-August-2025 two-bin routine. East Herts now separates household waste into several streams. Purple-lidded non-recyclables, black-lidded mixed recycling and blue-lidded paper/cardboard are collected on alternating three-weekly rounds. Food waste is weekly.

Put bins out By 6:30am

Purple lid Every 3 weeks

Black lid Every 3 weeks

Blue lid Every 3 weeks

Food caddy Every week

Garden waste is separate: subscribed brown-lidded garden bins are normally collected every two weeks and are not part of the purple-black-blue three-week sequence.

One East Herts District, Many Collection Rounds

The district covers large towns, villages, rural lanes, communal developments and properties with difficult access. Your neighbour may therefore not always be a safe guide to your own collection day.

Hertford Bishop’s Stortford Ware Sawbridgeworth Buntingford Much Hadham Puckeridge Stanstead Abbotts

Collection days can also change around public holidays. The address lookup or Your East Herts app should be treated as the date source for an individual property.

How to Find Your Exact East Herts Refuse Collection Day

A three-week cycle tells you frequency, not the actual date for your property. Use the official address lookup before deciding what goes outside.

Open the official checker

Use East Herts Council’s collection-day lookup rather than an old calendar or unofficial postcode list.

Select the exact property

Check your house, flat or communal property rather than copying a neighbouring address.

Check the container type

Note whether purple, black, blue, food or subscribed garden waste is due.

Set out before 6:30am

Put the container at the front boundary with its lid closed.

Check East Herts Collection Day

Holiday tip: bank-holiday changes are reflected in the address lookup and app, so do not automatically assume your normal day simply moves by exactly one day.

Why Old East Herts Bin Advice Can Be Wrong

The current household system began on 4 August 2025 and was the district’s biggest waste-service change in years.

Before August 2025

Older East Herts pages and resident routines were based on a different container setup and collection frequency.

4 August 2025

Weekly food collections and the three-week recycling/refuse cycle began.

New purple bin

Households received a smaller 180-litre purple-lidded bin for non-recyclable waste.

Existing bins were repurposed

The black-lidded 240L bin became mixed recycling and the blue-lidded 240L bin became the dedicated paper/cardboard container.

New food containers

Households received a 23-litre outdoor brown food caddy and 5-litre kitchen caddy.

East Herts Household Collection Schedule in 2026

Container	Main use	Standard size	Frequency
Purple-lidded bin	Non-recyclable household waste	180 litres	Every 3 weeks
Black-lidded bin	Mixed recycling	240 litres	Every 3 weeks
Blue-lidded bin	Cardboard and paper	240 litres	Every 3 weeks
Brown outdoor food caddy	Household food waste	23 litres	Every week
Brown-lidded garden bin	Subscribed garden vegetation	240 litres	Every 2 weeks

Communal properties are different. Flats and developments with shared bin stores may remain on weekly or fortnightly waste schedules rather than following the ordinary householder three-week cycle exactly.

East Herts Bin Colours Explained

Purple-Lidded Bin

Non-recyclable household rubbish after food, mixed recycling and paper/cardboard have been separated.

180L Every 3 weeks Non-recyclables

Black-Lidded Bin

Mixed recycling including suitable plastics, glass, metals, cartons and plastic bags/wrapping.

240L Every 3 weeks Loose recycling

Blue-Lidded Bin

Dedicated paper and cardboard collection to keep fibres clean, dry and separate from mixed recycling.

240L Every 3 weeks Paper & card

Brown Food Caddy

Weekly collection of unavoidable food scraps, separate from both refuse and garden waste.

23L outdoors 5L kitchen Weekly

How the East Herts Three-Week Bin Cycle Works

The three large core bins are not all emptied together. One of the three main streams is normally collected during its scheduled week, while food waste continues every week.

Cycle Week 1

Purple non-recyclables Food caddy

Cycle Week 2

Black mixed recycling Food caddy

Cycle Week 3

Blue paper & card Food caddy

Separate rota

Subscribed garden waste every 2 weeks

This explains the service structure, not your exact dates. Public holidays and route changes mean your address lookup remains the final practical calendar.

Purple-Lidded Bin: Non-Recyclable Waste Only

The standard East Herts refuse bin is now 180 litres, smaller than the former 240L general-waste container. That works alongside the separate weekly food stream and two recycling bins.

Examples for the purple bin

Disposable nappies and wipes
Cat and dog waste
Tissues
Polystyrene packaging
Cigarette ends
Pyrex and drinking glasses
Non-recyclable household items

Do not waste purple-bin space on

Food scraps
Paper and cardboard
Glass bottles and jars
Metal cans
Plastic bottles, tubs and trays
Plastic bags and wrapping
Garden vegetation

Food waste is now recyclable. Food placed in the purple non-recyclables bin can result in the bin being treated as containing incorrect material.

Black-Lidded Mixed Recycling Bin

Material	Black bin?	Preparation
Glass bottles and jars	Yes	Empty; a quick rinse helps.
Tins and cans	Yes	Empty first.
Clean aluminium foil	Yes	Scrunch small foil into a larger ball.
Drink / food cartons	Yes	Empty before recycling.
Plastic bottles	Yes	Lids can remain on.
Plastic pots, tubs and trays	Yes	Empty and rinse obvious residue.
Plastic bags	Yes	Place loose in the recycling bin.
Plastic wrapping / films	Yes	Keep free from food residue.

Loose means loose. Do not tie all your recycling together inside a bin bag. East Herts asks residents to place mixed recycling loose in the black-lidded bin.

East Herts is already collecting plastic bags and wrapping at the kerbside, including carrier bags, bread bags, cereal liners, wrapping films and similar flexible plastics where suitable.

Blue-Lidded Paper & Cardboard Bin

Put these in

Corrugated cardboard
Cardboard packaging
Cereal boxes
Toilet-roll tubes
Newspapers
Magazines
Junk mail
Envelopes including window envelopes
White and coloured paper
Post-it notes

Keep it clean and dry

The separate fibre stream improves the quality of East Herts’ paper and cardboard recycling.

Flatten boxes where possible so the 240-litre container can hold more before its three-week collection.

Plastic film or free gifts from magazines should be removed and placed in the correct mixed-recycling stream.

No plastic in the blue-lidded bin. Plastic packaging belongs in the black-lidded mixed-recycling container instead.

Weekly East Herts Food-Waste Collection

Food waste is the only ordinary East Herts householder stream collected every week.

Food accepted

Leftovers and plate scrapings
Pet-food leftovers
Cheese and dairy food
Eggs and eggshells
Bread and pastries
Pasta and rice
Meat and bones
Fish and fish bones
Tea bags and coffee grounds
Fruit and vegetable peelings

Caddy-liner flexibility

East Herts allows households to use suitable plastic bags as kitchen-caddy liners as well as compostable liners.

Bread bags, cereal liners and frozen-food bags can therefore get another use before disposal.

Do not use black bin bags.

What happens after collection? East Herts food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion facility near Baldock. The process produces biogas for electricity and a nutrient-rich fertiliser for farmland.

East Herts Garden Waste Subscription 2026/27

Annual collection fee £61 per bin

Collection frequency Every 2 weeks

Service year 1 Apr–31 Mar

Max garden bins Up to 3

The £61 subscription covers collections from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, except for one collection omitted over the Christmas/New Year period.

Accepted garden waste

Grass cuttings
Hedge clippings
Small tree prunings
Branches up to about 3cm diameter
Bark and twigs
Moss
Ordinary weeds
Flowers
Plants with excess soil removed
Fallen fruit
Leaves

Keep these out

Food waste
Animal faeces
Pet bedding
Cat litter
Soil
Rubble
Cardboard and paper
Mixed recycling
Nappies
General refuse
Japanese knotweed and other controlled weeds

Extra garden bin: a household can pay for up to two additional garden bins, giving a maximum of three. Each extra bin requires the £61 annual collection subscription plus a £40 supply/delivery charge for the additional container.

Allow processing time. A new garden subscription/bin request can take up to two weeks, so subscribing just before your next scheduled collection does not guarantee that collection will be available.

Display the subscription sticker where the crew can see it and mark the brown bin with your house number, especially where neighbours present several bins together.

East Herts Garden Waste

The 6:30am Boundary Rule

Current East Herts collection information says containers should be ready by 6:30am. Older pages can still contain pre-change 6am wording, so follow the newer collection-service guidance.

Out by 6:30am

Do not rely on the time your lorry normally arrives.

Front boundary

The ordinary collection point is where your property meets the pavement or road.

Lid closed

Containers should be presented safely with their lids properly closed.

Crews do not normally walk onto private property. If you cannot physically move the containers to the boundary, apply for an assisted collection rather than leaving them farther inside.

East Herts Missed Bin: Timing Rules Before You Report

A valid missed-bin report should meet these tests

The container was due on that date.
It was out before 6:30am.
It was at the property boundary.
The lid was closed.
No rejection/problem sticker was attached.
You are still within the reporting window.

East Herts reporting window

Report the missed collection within two days.

The council’s current instructions say do not submit the report before 4pm on the first day after the collection was missed , because an early submission may be rejected.

Once a qualifying miss has been reported, recollection may take up to 72 hours.

Subscribed garden waste: only report a missed brown garden bin when there is an active paid subscription for that property.

Official Missed-Bin Report

East Herts Bin Problem Checker

What happened?

Select the situation that best describes the collection problem.

Contamination Sticker: Why East Herts Left Your Bin

A sticker means the bin was not simply forgotten. The crew identified a problem that prevented collection.

First incident

A sticker is placed on the recycling bin and East Herts can send a letter explaining the incorrect material.

Second incident

Another sticker and second incident letter can be issued.

Third incident

The council may ask the resident to discuss the repeated problem and can consider removing the recycling bin.

Remove the incorrect item and use the next scheduled collection. East Herts does not normally return early for a deliberately rejected contaminated recycling bin.

Frozen, Jammed or Overweight Bins

Frozen waste

Check that the lid opens and gently loosen frozen contents before collection.

Jammed contents

Slide a spade or similar tool carefully between compacted waste and the bin wall before the next collection.

Too heavy

Crews will not empty a container that cannot be moved or lifted safely. Remove the heavy material and use an appropriate recycling-centre route.

Cold-weather trick: where possible keep the bin beside a wall, garage or shed before collection, avoid excess moisture and do not compress wet garden waste tightly into the brown bin.

Extra Waste Beside an East Herts Bin

Ordinary excess waste

Extra waste placed beside a full household bin is not normally collected.

Use all available recycling streams first. Remaining excess household waste should go to an appropriate Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Create more space first

Flatten cardboard boxes.
Squash empty plastic bottles.
Stack similar pots and trays.
Separate food every week.
Use the black-lid soft-plastic collection.
Keep paper/card out of the mixed recycling bin.

Can You Get a Bigger Purple Refuse Bin?

The standard non-recyclable bin is 180 litres. Approved additional capacity means replacing it with a 240-litre purple-lidded bin, rather than simply adding another ordinary refuse container.

6+ permanent residents

A household with six or more permanent residents can apply for extra capacity.

Two children in nappies

A household with two or more children under 36 months using disposable nappies may qualify.

Healthcare waste

Excess non-infectious healthcare-related waste can support an application for increased refuse capacity.

Five-week waste diary: qualifying household-size/nappy applications can require a five-week waste diary before East Herts approves the larger bin. Medical-condition applications do not require the diary in the same way.

The entitlement is reviewed annually, so a larger bin is not necessarily a permanent entitlement if household circumstances change.

Request a Bigger East Herts Bin

Lost, Broken or Replacement East Herts Bins

Problem	Current rule / charge	Practical action
Broken lid or wheel	Repair is free	Request repair rather than replacing the whole bin.
Purple refuse bin body cannot be repaired	£40 delivery charge	Let the council assess repair first.
Broken recycling / food container	Replacement normally free	Use the damaged-bin request.
Lost or missing bin	Usually free	Check nearby properties before reporting it missing.
Repair / replacement target	Aim: around 10 working days	Busy periods can take longer.

East Herts frequently repairs and refurbishes bins instead of automatically supplying brand-new containers. A replacement may therefore be a clean reconditioned bin.

If reporting a damaged bin, make it available at the property boundary from the date of the request so the repair/replacement team can access it.

Replacement / Repair Bin

Narrow Streets or No Bin Storage? East Herts Sack Collections

Not every property can physically store or present three full-sized wheelie bins.

Weekly refuse sacks

Where narrow access, direct road frontage or another genuine access problem makes standard wheelie bins unsuitable, East Herts can provide council-marked refuse sacks.

Those properties continue with a weekly refuse collection.

Recycling containers

Narrow-access properties can receive reusable sacks/boxes for recycling rather than standard large bins.

Recycling follows the applicable three-week service arrangement.

A resident cannot simply choose sacks because they prefer them. East Herts assesses properties where storage or physical access prevents the standard bin service.

Flats and Communal Bin Stores

Shared developments do not always follow the ordinary household three-week wheelie-bin rota.

Shared refuse

Communal residual waste can be collected weekly or fortnightly, depending on the site’s arrangement.

Shared recycling

Communal recycling is generally collected fortnightly.

Weekly food waste

East Herts has introduced separate weekly food-waste collection for communal properties as well.

Keep access clear. Parked vehicles, locked bin stores or changed security codes/fobs can prevent a communal collection even when the waste itself is correctly sorted.

If a development regularly has insufficient communal capacity, East Herts can assess the bin store rather than residents repeatedly leaving waste on the floor.

Assisted Bin Collections

The assisted service is available where a resident cannot physically move the containers and there is nobody else living at the property who can do it.

Older residents

Age-related mobility problems can support an assisted collection.

Disability

Physical disability or sight impairment are examples of situations East Herts considers.

Temporary support

Assistance does not have to be permanent; residents can apply where a temporary condition prevents normal bin movement.

Apply for Assisted Collection

East Herts Clinical Waste & Sharps

Infectious clinical waste is not ordinary purple-bin rubbish. East Herts provides specialist household collections free of charge where required.

Material	Correct household route
Infectious blood / bodily fluids / tissue	Specialist clinical collection.
Infectious swabs or dressings	Specialist clinical collection.
Needles / syringes / sharps	Approved sharps box; never ordinary refuse.
Weight-loss injection sharps	Sharps box and clinical route.
Incontinence / period products	Bag securely and use purple non-recyclables.
Stoma / catheter bags	Bag securely and use purple non-recyclables if non-infectious.
Non-infectious dressings	Bag securely and use purple non-recyclables.
Unused medication	Return to the point of issue / pharmacy route.

Sharps must be placed in an approved sharps box. Do not put needles inside the orange clinical sacks or ordinary household bins.

Clinical sacks and sharps containers should be ready on the doorstep by 6:30am on the specialist collection day.

Private-resident clinical collections are free and the frequency can be tailored to the individual case.

East Herts Bulky Rubbish Collection Charges

Up to 3 soft items £61.20

Up to 3 hard items £61.20

Extra same-type item £17

Maximum 6 items

Soft and non-soft items require separate bookings. East Herts explains that Environment Agency rules mean, for example, a sofa and a fridge cannot simply be combined into one £61.20 booking.

Outside by 6:30am

Items must be outside at the front of the property before the collection team arrives.

Empty and dry

Fridges, cupboards and similar items should be emptied. Protect suitable objects from rain where possible.

Disassemble where practical

Bed frames, wardrobes and similar large furniture should be broken down where reasonably possible.

The collection crew will not enter your house. Make sure the route between the item and the road is clear, and tell the council about unusual access restrictions when booking.

Book East Herts Bulky Waste

Paying Someone to Take Waste? Check Their Licence First

East Herts specifically reminds householders that they retain a legal duty of care when paying somebody else to remove rubbish.

Check the licence

The person taking another person’s waste should have the correct current Upper Tier Waste Carrier registration.

Get paperwork

Obtain a receipt/waste-transfer record showing the business, contact details, carrier number, waste and destination.

Record the vehicle

Note the vehicle registration used to collect your waste.

If somebody offers to remove household waste very cheaply but refuses to provide their registration or a receipt, do not assume that paying cash removes your responsibility if the waste is later fly-tipped.

Recycling Centres Near East Herts

Household recycling centres are run by Hertfordshire County Council, not East Herts District Council. They are the right route for many items that cannot use the kerbside bins.

ePass Now required for Hertfordshire residents

Free Standard car ePass

No booking Turn up in opening hours once registered

ANPR Vehicle registration identifies your pass

Ware Recycling Centre

A particularly useful East Herts-area site for residents around Ware and Hertford.

Current published opening: 10am–5:30pm daily.

Bishop’s Stortford Recycling Centre

Useful for Bishop’s Stortford and surrounding eastern/northern East Herts communities.

Current schedule: Monday and Thursday–Sunday, 8:30am–4pm ; Tuesday and Wednesday closed.

Opening arrangements and accepted material can change, so check the Hertfordshire site page before loading the car.

Hertfordshire Recycling-Centre ePass: What East Herts Residents Need

Apply once

The normal car ePass is free and linked to your address and vehicle registration.

No phone display needed

The recycling centre uses ANPR, so residents do not have to display a printed permit in the windscreen.

Van/trailer rules differ

Vans and trailers use separate permit arrangements and can have additional visit restrictions.

Standard car-pass visits are not capped in the same way as van and trailer visits, but the site must still be used for household rather than business waste.

Get Hertfordshire Recycling ePass

What Has the New East Herts System Actually Changed?

The council has published early performance data rather than relying only on theoretical recycling benefits.

6,500+ Tonnes of East Herts food waste in first year

19% Reported increase in paper/card recycling

1,950+ Extra tonnes of paper/card reported

325t Plastic bags/wrapping collected across both partner districts

Purple-bin waste fell

Five months after the new system began, East and North Herts reported a combined reduction of 5,883 tonnes of non-recyclable waste compared with the equivalent previous period.

Food separation made a major difference

East Herts alone reported 2,717 tonnes of separated food waste in the first five months and more than 6,500 tonnes during the first year.

Your East Herts App: Useful for a Three-Week Bin Cycle

With five possible waste streams, relying on memory is harder than it was under the old service.

Collection reminders

Receive notifications for which specific bin needs to go out.

Waste item search

Search an individual item and see which East Herts container or disposal route it belongs in.

Disruption alerts

The app can notify residents of weather-related or other service disruption.

You do not need a separate account simply to use the app’s basic address-based collection information and reminders.

Bank-holiday collection changes are automatically reflected in the app’s collection information and reminders.

Your East Herts App Information

Official East Herts Waste-Service Shortcuts

Check Bin Day

Address-level collection dates and public-holiday changes.

Missed Bin

Report only after checking the strict timing and presentation rules.

What Goes in My Bins

Detailed East Herts A–Z for unusual waste items.

Garden Waste

£61 2026/27 subscription, stickers and extra bins.

Assisted Collections

Request help moving containers where the eligibility rules are met.

Replacement Bin

Lost containers, damage, free wheel/lid repair and replacement.

East Herts Council customer services:
01279 655261
Monday–Friday · 9am–5pm

Hertford office:
Wallfields, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8EQ

East Herts Refuse Collection FAQs

1. How do I check my East Herts bin collection day?

Use East Herts Council’s official online address lookup and select your exact property. It shows the scheduled refuse, recycling and garden-waste dates and reflects public-holiday changes.

2. How often is the purple refuse bin collected in East Herts?

The standard 180-litre purple-lidded non-recyclable bin is normally collected once every three weeks under the service that began on 4 August 2025.

3. What time must East Herts bins be put out?

Current East Herts collection guidance says containers should be at the front boundary of the property by 6:30am with lids closed. Assisted collections use the agreed storage point.

4. Which East Herts bin is for recycling?

The black-lidded 240-litre bin is for mixed recycling such as plastic, glass, tins, cans, cartons, clean foil and plastic bags or wrapping. The blue-lidded 240-litre bin is separate and is specifically for paper and cardboard.

5. How often is food waste collected in East Herts?

Food waste is collected every week in the 23-litre brown outdoor caddy. Residents also have a small kitchen caddy for collecting food scraps indoors.

6. When can I report a missed East Herts bin?

The bin must have been due, presented by 6:30am at the boundary and have no rejection sticker. East Herts asks residents to report within two days and not to submit the report before 4pm on the first day after the collection was missed. A valid reported miss may take up to 72 hours to recollect.

7. How much is East Herts garden waste in 2026/27?

The 2026/27 garden-waste subscription costs £61 per bin for the service year from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Subscribed brown garden bins are normally collected every two weeks, with one collection omitted over the Christmas/New Year period.

8. Can I get a larger East Herts purple bin?

You can apply for a 240-litre purple-lidded refuse bin where there are six or more permanent residents, two or more children under 36 months in disposable nappies, or excess non-infectious healthcare waste. Some applications require a five-week waste diary.

9. How much does East Herts bulky rubbish collection cost?

From 1 April 2026, up to three eligible soft-furnished items cost £61.20, or up to three non-soft-furnished items cost £61.20. Additional items of the same booking type cost £17 each, up to six items. Soft and non-soft items require separate bookings.

10. Do East Herts residents need a permit for recycling centres?

Hertfordshire residents now need a free recycling-centre ePass. The standard car ePass is linked to the household address and vehicle registration, and ANPR identifies the registered vehicle at the site. Separate rules apply to vans and trailers.