Cannock Chase Council Bin Collection: Dates & Schedule 2026
Need to know whether it is green-bin week or blue-bin week, whether your brown garden bin is due, or what to do with your new weekly food-waste caddy? Start with your exact property, because Cannock Chase operates different Week 1 and Week 2 collection patterns.
This guide combines the 2026 calendar system with the district’s unusual dual-stream recycling service: paper and cardboard go in a reusable blue bag, while glass, cans and accepted plastics go loose in the blue wheelie bin. It also covers the April 2026 food-waste launch, £40 garden subscription, 7am rule, 96kg lifting limit, missed bins, bulky waste, small electricals, assisted collections and Cannock/Rugeley recycling centres.
Cannock Chase Bin Day: The Fast Answer
Search your postcode and property before downloading a calendar. Once you know your normal weekday and whether your green bin is Week 1 or Week 2, you can use the correct printable calendar.
Cannock Chase Does Not Have One District-Wide Bin Date
Homes in Cannock, Hednesford, Rugeley, Heath Hayes, Norton Canes, Bridgtown, Brereton, Chadsmoor and surrounding neighbourhoods are assigned to collection rounds. Even households collected on the same weekday can follow different Week 1 / Week 2 sequences.
How to Find Your Exact Cannock Chase Collection Date
The quickest official route is the Council’s About My Area property service. It identifies the collection schedule attached to your address.
Open About My Area
Use the council’s live property service rather than guessing from a third-party calendar.
Enter your postcode
Search the postcode of the property receiving the collection.
Choose the exact address
Select your own house or flat rather than another property on the same street.
Note weekday + week number
Use that information to select the correct downloadable Week 1 or Week 2 calendar.
Cannock Chase Week 1 & Week 2 Calendars Explained
The council publishes 10 normal calendars: two for each weekday from Monday to Friday. The difference is whether the property’s green bin falls in Week 1 or Week 2.
Green Bin Week 1
On this calendar, the green residual-waste bin uses the first side of the fortnightly rotation.
Blue recycling, the blue paper/card bag and a subscribed brown garden bin normally occupy the alternate week.
Green Bin Week 2
The same streams are collected, but the green residual bin is on the opposite fortnight from a Week 1 property.
This is why simply downloading “Tuesday” or “Friday” without checking Week 1/2 can give you the wrong colour.
Cannock Chase Council Collection Schedule 2026
| Container | Main purpose | Frequency | 2026 detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green wheelie bin | Non-recyclable household rubbish | Fortnightly | Week 1 or Week 2 depending on address. |
| Blue wheelie bin | Glass, accepted plastic packaging, tins, cans, foil and aerosols | Fortnightly | Normally opposite the green-bin week. |
| Reusable blue bag | Paper and cardboard | Fortnightly | Put out with the blue wheelie bin. |
| Brown garden bin | Subscribed garden vegetation | Fortnightly | Normally collected with blue bin + blue bag. |
| Light-grey outdoor food caddy | Household food waste | Weekly | Started week commencing 27 April 2026. |
Cannock Chase’s Five Waste & Recycling Streams
Green Bin
Non-recyclable and non-compostable household waste. The contents are sent for energy recovery.
Blue Recycling Bin
Glass bottles/jars, cans, tins, foil, aerosols and accepted plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays.
Blue Recycling Bag
Separate reusable bag for paper and cardboard. It is collected with the blue wheelie bin.
Brown Garden Bin
Paid garden-waste service. The 2026 annual subscription is £40 per brown bin.
Food-Waste Caddy
A 7L kitchen caddy feeds into the 23L light-grey outdoor caddy, which is emptied every week.
Small Electricals
Small suitable electrical items can be bagged and placed beside either the green or blue collection.
How the Green / Blue Fortnightly Cycle Fits Together
Food waste breaks the old every-other-week rhythm because it is now collected every week.
Cannock Chase Weekly Food Waste Collection
Separate food-waste collections began across the district during the week commencing 27 April 2026. Around 44,000 households received caddies as part of the rollout.
April 2026 · caddies delivered
Households received a 7-litre indoor kitchen caddy, a 23-litre outdoor kerbside caddy, liners and service instructions.
Week commencing 27 April
Weekly collections began on each property’s existing normal collection weekday.
First week
Residents separated more than 95 tonnes of food waste in the service’s first week.
First four weeks
NFDC reported more than 300 tonnes collected during the first four weeks, reducing the amount left in general rubbish.
Food accepted
- Fruit and vegetables, including peelings
- Raw or cooked meat and fish
- Bones
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Eggs and eggshells
- Dairy products
- Bread, cakes and pastries
- Rice, pasta and beans
- Out-of-date food
- Plate scrapings and leftovers
Keep these out
- Liquids
- Oils and liquid fats
- Garden waste
- Food packaging
- Animal litter
- Animal faeces
- Animal bedding
- Other non-food contamination
Missed Food Caddy? Do Not Report It Immediately
Leave it presented
Do not bring the caddy back into the garden immediately.
Wait for next-day recovery
The council asks residents to allow the following day for the food collection team to return.
Check presentation
Make sure the caddy is visible, closed and was originally out by 7am.
Report only if still full
If the next-day recovery also fails, use the missed-collection report.
Blue Bag: Paper & Card Stay Separate
Cannock Chase uses a dual-stream recycling system. Paper and card are deliberately kept separate from the materials inside the blue wheelie bin.
Put in the blue bag
- Catalogues
- Cereal boxes
- Corrugated cardboard
- Envelopes
- Greeting cards
- Junk mail
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Paper directories
- Tissue boxes
- Toilet-roll tubes
- Writing paper
Keep these out
Do not put paper/card inside plastic bags. The material goes loose in the reusable blue bag.
Milk and juice cartons such as Tetra Pak are mixed-material packaging and should not be put into the blue paper/card bag.
Blue Wheelie Bin: What Goes In?
| Material | Blue-bin route | Preparation |
|---|---|---|
| Glass bottles and jars | Yes | Empty and rinse. |
| Food and drink cans | Yes | Rinse food residue. |
| Tins | Yes | Empty before recycling. |
| Clean foil / trays | Yes | Keep free from food contamination. |
| Empty household aerosols | Yes | Must be empty. |
| Plastic bottles | Yes | Rinse and place loose. |
| Plastic food trays | Yes | Clean first. |
| Plastic tubs and yoghurt pots | Yes | Clean first. |
Green Bin: Cannock Chase’s General Rubbish Container
Typical green-bin material
- Normal non-recyclable household rubbish
- Polystyrene
- Waxed food/drink cartons
- Waxed paper
- Cold ashes
- Pet litter and properly bagged faeces
- Tissues and wipes
- Sanitary products
- Nappies
- Crisp packets
- Hard plastic toys/buckets that are not recyclable
- Pyrex and suitable non-recyclable domestic glassware
- Pottery / chinaware
Keep hazardous / special waste out
- Paint
- Oils
- Hazardous chemicals
- Gas bottles
- Electrical appliances
- Batteries
- Vapes
- Fluorescent tubes
Cannock Chase Brown Garden Bin 2026
The £40 charge applies regardless of when during 2026 you join. There is no normal pro-rata discount, no monthly payment plan and no refund simply because you only need the service for part of the year.
Typical accepted garden waste
- Grass cuttings
- Hedge trimmings
- Small branches / prunings
- Leaves
- Weeds and cut flowers
- Chipped bark
- Real Christmas trees broken up to fit
Keep these out
- Japanese Knotweed and invasive plants
- Diseased plants
- Animal bedding or faeces
- Turf
- Mulch
- Timber
- Plastic / compostable bags
- Rubble, soil and bricks
- Food waste
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- General rubbish
Cannock Chase’s 7am Collection Rules
Out by 7am
Present household containers before the collection day begins at 7am.
Kerbside / property edge
Move bins to the kerbside with the handles facing towards the road.
Lid fully closed
Biffa will not empty an overfilled wheelie bin with its lid raised.
Why Cannock Chase Bins & Bags Are Tagged and Left Behind
| Problem | Result | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Raised wheelie-bin lid | Bin can be rejected. | Remove enough waste for the lid to close. |
| Wrong material in blue bin | Recycling is tagged and left. | Remove contamination and wait for next scheduled blue day. |
| Wrong material in blue bag | Paper/card bag is not emptied. | Remove unacceptable items. |
| Overweight wheelie bin | Vehicle lift cannot safely empty it. | Reduce the weight before next scheduled collection. |
| No 2026 brown permit | Garden bin is not eligible. | Subscribe and correctly attach the permit. |
| Food contamination | Caddy may not be collected. | Remove non-food material. |
Cannock Chase Missed-Bin Checker
Select what happened before submitting a missed-bin report.
Ordinary Missed Bins: Report Within 24 Hours
A genuine missed collection means
- Correct container / bag
- Correct collection date
- Presented by 7am
- Correct collection point
- Lid closed
- No rejection / contamination tag
Reporting deadline
Cannock Chase says missed collections should be reported within 24 hours, described elsewhere as by the end of the next working day.
The current collection-date page warns that a charge can apply if the council has to return to a missed bin after that reporting period.
The 96kg Limit: Cannock Chase Bins Can Be Too Heavy to Empty
Soil and rubble
Dense construction-type material can make a bin dangerously heavy very quickly.
Wet garden waste
A tightly packed brown bin can become significantly heavier after prolonged rain.
What to do
Remove enough material for safe lifting and use the next scheduled collection or another appropriate disposal route.
Extra Waste: Blue Bin, Blue Bag and Green Bin Have Different Rules
Extra green-bin rubbish
Do not leave bags of ordinary rubbish beside the green bin. Side waste is not collected and can potentially be treated as fly-tipping.
Extra blue-bin material
Additional glass/plastic/can recycling beside the blue wheelie bin is not normally collected.
Contact Waste Services if regular blue-bin capacity is insufficient.
Extra cardboard
This is the exception. Flattened cardboard can be placed beside the blue paper/card bag when reduced to a manageable size similar to the bag.
Can You Get a Larger Green Bin?
Six or more permanent residents
Cannock Chase says households with six or more permanent residents may be entitled to a larger green general-waste bin instead of the normal container.
Medical circumstances
A household producing additional residual waste because of a medical condition can also ask Waste Services about additional capacity.
Assisted Collections
Residents unable to move bins because of ill health or mobility-related problems can apply for an assisted collection.
Existing assistance continues
Residents already receiving an assisted waste service do not lose it because of the blue bag, brown subscription or new food caddy.
Blue bag
Place it beside the blue wheelie bin in the normal assisted position or, where suitable, in the top of the bin.
Food caddy
The weekly kerbside caddy is collected from the household’s existing assisted collection point.
Flats & Communal Food-Waste Collections
The weekly food service was also designed for residents using shared communal bin stores.
Inside the flat
Communal-property residents receive a 7-litre kitchen caddy and liners.
Shared bin store
Tied food-waste liners are placed into a 140-litre light-grey communal food bin which is emptied weekly.
Free Kerbside Collection for Small Electrical Items
This is a useful Cannock Chase service that is frequently missing from generic bin-day articles.
Items that may qualify
- Kettles
- Toasters
- Irons
- Hairdryers and straighteners
- Clocks and calculators
- Mobile phones and chargers
- Small radios
- Small electronic toys
- Small power tools
- Smoke detectors and thermostats
Too large for this route
- Televisions
- Computer monitors
- Laptops
- Fridges / freezers
- Washing machines
- Cookers
- Microwave ovens
- Anything too large for a standard carrier bag
Cannock Chase Bulky Waste Collection Charges 2026
| Example | Units | Useful detail |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 black sacks | 1 | Household / suitable garden waste. |
| Sofa | 1 | Normal bulky service. |
| Three-piece suite | 2 | Charged as two units. |
| Mattress | 1 | Bed base is a separate unit. |
| Cooker / fridge | 1 | Standard domestic-size white goods. |
| Television | 1 | Too large for small-electrical bag route. |
| Dining table | 1 | Normal bulky item. |
| 4 chairs | 1 | Four chairs treated as one unit. |
Bank Holidays, Christmas & Calendar Changes
Normal bank holidays
Cannock Chase’s waste contractor has historically continued collections across most bank holidays.
Your downloadable calendar remains the better source because it marks any earlier or later date explicitly.
Christmas / New Year
Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day require special arrangements and can create earlier, later or Saturday collections.
The current 2025/26 calendars stop at 30 November 2026, so recheck the council before assuming the December 2026 pattern.
Cannock & Rugeley Household Recycling Centres
Staffordshire County Council, not Cannock Chase District Council, operates the area’s household recycling centres. These are useful for electricals, hazardous household materials and other items that do not belong in kerbside bins.
Cannock Recycling Centre
Lichfield Road, Cannock, WS11 8NQ
From 29 March to 24 October 2026 the published hours are:
- Monday–Friday: 9am–6pm
- Saturday: 9am–5pm
- Sunday: 9am–5pm
Rugeley Recycling Centre
Station Road, Rugeley, WS15 2HE
From 29 March to 24 October 2026 the published hours are:
- Monday: 9am–6pm
- Tuesday: 9am–6pm
- Wednesday: closed
- Thursday: closed
- Friday: 9am–6pm
- Saturday/Sunday: 9am–5pm
Staffordshire changes recycling-centre opening times seasonally. Check the live site page again after 24 October before travelling.
Six Cannock Chase Collection Details Generic Guides Often Miss
Week 1 / Week 2
The weekday alone is not enough. Each Monday–Friday round has two possible green-bin calendar sequences.
Blue bag is separate
Paper and cardboard do not simply join the plastics/glass/cans inside the blue wheelie bin.
Food caddy waits a day
A missed food caddy should remain outside for next-day recovery before a formal missed report is made.
96kg lift limit
An extremely heavy green or brown bin can legitimately be left.
Free small electrical route
Suitable carrier-bag-sized electricals can be presented beside either the green or blue collection.
Extra cardboard ≠ extra blue waste
Flattened cardboard can go beside the blue bag, but other extra blue-bin recycling beside the wheelie bin is not normally taken.
Official Cannock Chase Waste-Service Shortcuts
Check Bin Dates
Address-level collection lookup.
Collection Calendars
Week 1 and Week 2 PDFs for every weekday.
Report Missed Bin
Use after confirming the collection was genuinely missed.
Food Waste
Weekly caddy rules and replacement caddy information.
Garden Waste
£40 2026 subscription and brown-bin terms.
Bins & Waste Forms
Lost, replacement, damaged, missed and assisted-bin routes.
Civic Centre
Beecroft Road
Cannock
Staffordshire
WS11 1BG
Telephone: 01543 462621
Waste Services: wasteservices@cannockchasedc.gov.uk
Cannock Chase Council Bin Collection FAQs
1. How do I find my exact Cannock Chase bin collection date?
Use Cannock Chase Council’s official About My Area property checker. Enter your postcode and select the exact address. Once you know the weekday and whether your green bin is Week 1 or Week 2, you can download the matching council calendar.
2. What is the difference between Cannock Chase Week 1 and Week 2?
Cannock Chase has two collection rotations for each normal weekday. A Green Bin Week 1 property has its general-waste bin on one side of the fortnightly cycle, while a Green Bin Week 2 property has it on the opposite week. This is why the weekday alone is not enough to identify the correct calendar.
3. What time should Cannock Chase bins be put out?
Bins, the reusable blue recycling bag and the outdoor food caddy should be clearly presented by 7am on the scheduled collection day. Wheelie-bin handles should face towards the road and lids must be closed.
4. Is Cannock Chase food waste collected every week?
Yes. Weekly separate food-waste collections began in the week commencing 27 April 2026. Households use a 7-litre kitchen caddy and a 23-litre light-grey outdoor kerbside caddy. The outdoor caddy is collected on the household’s normal waste collection weekday every week.
5. What should I do if only my food caddy is missed?
Leave the caddy at the kerbside. Cannock Chase says a missed food caddy should be collected the following day. If it is still full after that next-day recovery opportunity, submit a missed collection report.
6. What goes in the Cannock Chase blue bag?
The reusable blue bag is for paper and cardboard such as newspapers, magazines, envelopes, writing paper, cereal boxes and flattened cardboard. Do not put paper/card inside plastic bags and do not put mixed-material drink cartons into the paper bag.
7. How much is the Cannock Chase brown garden bin in 2026?
The 2026 annual subscription is £40 per brown bin. Collections operate fortnightly from the week commencing 12 January until Friday 27 November 2026, providing up to 23 scheduled collections. The full £40 applies even when joining later in the year.
8. How quickly must I report a missed Cannock Chase bin?
Ordinary missed collections should be reported within 24 hours, described by the council as by the end of the next working day. Wait until the normal collection window has passed and first confirm the bin was correctly presented by 7am with no rejection tag.
9. Can a Cannock Chase household get a larger green bin?
Households with six or more permanent residents, or households with relevant medical circumstances, may qualify for additional general-waste capacity. Contact Waste Services for assessment rather than leaving extra black sacks beside the green bin.
10. Where are the Cannock Chase household recycling centres?
Two useful Staffordshire County Council sites are Cannock Recycling Centre at Lichfield Road, Cannock, WS11 8NQ and Rugeley Recycling Centre at Station Road, Rugeley, WS15 2HE. Their opening days and hours vary by season, so check the Staffordshire site before travelling.