Cardiff Refuse Collection: Bin Days, Missed Bins & Waste

Q: What time should Cardiff bins and recycling be put out?

Put scheduled bins, bags and caddies out before 6am on collection day and not before 4:30pm on the previous day. Empty containers should be removed from the pavement by 9am the following day.

Q: What time does Cardiff refuse collection finish?

Cardiff Council's current information says routine recycling and waste collections normally take place between 6am and 3:30pm Tuesday to Friday.

Q: What goes in Cardiff's blue recycling sack?

The blue sack is for paper and cardboard such as newspapers, magazines, envelopes, cereal boxes and cardboard packaging.

Q: How often is Cardiff food waste collected?

Cardiff food waste is collected every week.

Q: Where are Cardiff's household recycling centres?

Cardiff's household recycling centres are Lamby Way Recycling Centre in Rumney, CF3 2HP, and Bessemer Close Recycling Centre in Leckwith, CF11 8XH. Both normally open from 8:30am to 5:30pm daily and require advance booking.

Cardiff 2026 · household recycling & refuse guide

Cardiff Refuse Collection: Bin Days, Missed Bins & Waste

Cardiff’s collection system is more detailed than simply “recycling week” and “black-bin week”. Many households now separate paper and card, plastics and cans, food and glass into different sacks or caddies, while other homes use wheelie bins, seagull-proof sacks or communal containers.

This local guide explains how to find your exact Cardiff bin day, what goes in every container, the 6am rule, the current 3:30pm collection window, the 48-hour missed-bin limit, contamination stickers, extra general-waste rules, assisted and hygiene collections, bulky waste and both Cardiff recycling centres.

Check My Cardiff Bin Day Report a Missed Collection Use Missed-Bin Checker

CARDIFF REFUSE

BLUE · PAPER & CARD · WEEKLY

RED · PLASTIC & CANS · WEEKLY

FOOD · WEEKLY

GLASS · FORTNIGHTLY

GENERAL · FORTNIGHTLY

Cardiff Bin Days: The Fast Answer

Search your own house number and postcode. Cardiff collection dates are property-specific. Do not rely on a generic “Cardiff bin calendar”, another street’s containers or a third-party result that does not know your exact address.

Put out by 6am

Collection window 6am–3:30pm

Normal days Tue–Fri

Missed report Within 48 hours

General waste Every 2 weeks

Do not use an old 10pm rule. Cardiff’s current missed-collection service says routine collection activity takes place between 6am and 3:30pm Tuesday to Friday. Check the property’s live status rather than waiting for advice from an outdated third-party page.

How to Check Your Exact Cardiff Refuse Collection Date

Cardiff Council’s live property search is the safest date source because different waste streams can have different frequencies even though your normal collection weekday stays the same.

Open the official checker

Use Cardiff Council’s “When are my bins collected?” service.

Enter house number and postcode

Use the exact residential property receiving the collection.

Check each waste stream

Your weekly recycling and food collections can appear alongside fortnightly glass, general or garden waste.

Turn on reminders

Cardiff lets residents set email reminders or use app push notifications.

Check Official Cardiff Collection Dates

Cardiff Refuse & Recycling Collection Schedule

The current separated collection system gives recyclable materials more frequent collections than general rubbish.

Waste stream	Main container	Normal frequency	Key point
Paper & cardboard	Blue sack	Weekly	Keep separate from plastic/cans.
Plastic, cans & cartons	Red sack	Weekly	Tetra Pak belongs here under current guidance.
Food waste	Food caddy	Weekly	Cooked and raw food accepted.
Glass bottles & jars	Blue glass caddy	Every 2 weeks	Normally collected with general waste.
General refuse	Bin / seagull-proof sacks depending property	Every 2 weeks	No loose side waste.
Garden waste	Green bin or reusable sacks depending property	Every 2 weeks when scheduled	Check live date because disruption/rescheduling can occur.
Hygiene waste	Purple hygiene bags	Weekly	Registration required.

Cardiff’s Separated Recycling System Explained

A common online mistake is describing Cardiff as if every household still puts all recycling into one green bag. The current system separates major materials, although some properties and communal arrangements can still differ.

Blue Sack

Paper, cardboard, magazines, envelopes and other accepted fibre recycling.

Weekly Paper & card

Red Sack

Plastic bottles, tubs, trays, cans, tins, clean foil, aerosols and cartons.

Weekly Containers

Food Caddy

Cooked and raw food including meat, fish, bones, dairy, leftovers and peelings.

Weekly Food only

Blue Glass Caddy

Glass bottles and jars. Ceramics, drinking glasses and window glass need another route.

Every 2 weeks With general waste

General Waste

Non-recyclable household rubbish after using Cardiff’s food and recycling services.

Every 2 weeks No side bags

Garden Waste

Grass, leaves, weeds, flowers, small branches, twigs and suitable plant material.

Every 2 weeks Register where required

Blue Sack: Paper & Cardboard

Put these in

Cardboard boxes
Cereal and toothpaste boxes
Egg boxes
Toilet-roll tubes
Newspapers and magazines
Envelopes and letters
Printer paper
Small quantities of shredded paper when contained in paper/card

Keep these out

Tetra Pak and drink cartons
Polystyrene
Plastic film
Wallpaper
Wrapping paper
Tissues and kitchen roll
Sanitary products
Plastic carrier bags

Shredded-paper trick: put a small amount into a paper bag or another paper/card container before placing it in the blue sack. Large quantities can be harder to handle loose.

Red Sack: Plastic, Cans, Foil & Cartons

Accepted examples

Shampoo and toiletry bottles
Cleaning-product bottles
Milk, water and drinks bottles
Yoghurt pots
Plastic tubs and trays
Takeaway plastic containers
Empty household aerosols
Food tins and drinks cans
Tetra Pak cartons
Clean aluminium foil and trays

Not accepted

Carrier bags
Cling film and soft plastics
Bread bags
Crisp packets
Pet-food pouches
Medicine blister packs
Razors
Gas lighters or gas canisters
Hard plastic toys
Plant pots
Plastic food-storage boxes
Saucepans and cutlery

Cardiff Food-Waste Collection: Every Week

Food recycling is one of the most important ways to keep a fortnightly general-waste bin manageable.

Cooked food

Leftovers and plate scrapings can use the food-waste service.

Raw food

Fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and food-preparation waste are accepted.

Bones and dairy

Cardiff includes meat bones, fish and dairy in the weekly food service.

Typical food-caddy items: fruit and vegetable peelings, leftovers, eggshells, meat and bones, dairy products, fish, tea bags and coffee grounds.

Check Cardiff Food-Waste Rules

Blue Glass Caddy: Collected Every 2 Weeks

Cardiff’s separate glass collection normally takes place on the same day as your general-waste collection.

Yes

Beer, wine and soft-drink glass bottles
Sauce jars
Jam jars
Baby-food jars

No

Ceramics
China
Drinking glasses
Broken glass
Window panes
Light bulbs

Cardiff General Refuse: Every 2 Weeks

The general-waste allowance is designed for rubbish that cannot use Cardiff’s weekly food and recycling services.

Wheelie-bin properties

Put rubbish into bags inside the wheelie bin and make sure the lid closes properly.

Cardiff currently lists replacement/new general-waste bins at £25 each.

No extra bags beside the bin

Cardiff says additional general-waste bags placed next to the bin will not be collected.

Incorrect presentation can also lead to enforcement action.

Space problem? households with unavoidable regular extra residual waste—such as some medical-waste needs—can ask for an assessment for an additional or larger bin. The household must also show it is making full use of weekly recycling and food collections.

Cardiff Seagull-Proof General-Waste Sacks

Some Cardiff properties use reusable seagull-proof sacks instead of a conventional general-waste wheelie bin.

2 sacks

A property using this system should normally have two seagull-proof sacks.

2 rubbish bags each

Up to two properly closed rubbish bags can be placed inside each reusable sack.

Secure the Velcro

Close the reusable sack properly to reduce litter caused by gulls or other animals.

Do not put loose rubbish directly into the reusable sack and do not leave ordinary refuse bags outside the sack for collection.

Cardiff Garden-Waste Collections

Garden waste is normally collected every two weeks where the property is registered for the service.

Accepted

Grass cuttings
Leaves
Weeds
Small branches and twigs
Small plants
Flowers

Not accepted

Sawdust
Woodchip and bark
Hay
Pet waste
Nappies
Soil or rubble
Timber or decking
Cardboard
Plant pots
Food waste
Electrical items

Green bins

Cardiff says qualifying properties can have a maximum of 2 green garden bins.

Bin price

A replacement/new garden-waste bin currently costs £35.

Delivery

Garden-bin deliveries may take up to 15 working days.

Sack properties: reusable garden sacks currently cost £3.50 each. A household using this system can present a maximum of five sacks for a collection.

Current disruption tip: Cardiff has been publishing separate garden-waste delay information where area-wide rounds are affected. If the council reschedules the collection, use the revised date rather than submitting a standard missed-bin report immediately.

When and Where to Put Cardiff Refuse Out

By 6am

Have all scheduled bags, bins and caddies ready before 6am on collection day.

No earlier than 4:30pm

Cardiff asks residents not to put containers onto the pavement before 4:30pm on the day before collection.

Remove by 9am next day

Bring emptied bins and containers back off the pavement by 9am the day after collection.

Cardiff Missed-Bin Checker

Use this before submitting a report. Cardiff’s live property status distinguishes “due”, “collected” and “not collected”.

What happened?

Choose the situation that best matches the collection problem.

Cardiff Missed Collection Rules: The 48-Hour Deadline

Report within 48 hours

Cardiff says a missed collection must be reported within 48 hours of the scheduled collection.

Do not leave the report until your next collection week.

Report your own property only

The online service is designed for the household submitting the report. You cannot submit a single missed-collection report for the whole street.

Check the live status. If your container is marked “Collected” but it was not emptied, the service allows you to report the problem. If it is marked “Not collected”, Cardiff normally displays the reason and what you need to do next.

Storage option: if you have enough space to safely store the missed material until the next collection, Cardiff may advise returning the containers to your property rather than leaving them continuously on the pavement.

Sticker on Your Cardiff Recycling or Garden Waste?

A sticker normally means the crew deliberately did not collect the material because something was wrong. That is different from a missed collection.

Incorrect item

Remove the contamination identified by the crew before the next scheduled collection.

Too heavy

Garden or other containers can be rejected if they are too heavy for staff to safely move and empty.

Repeated stickers

Cardiff says three stickers within a 12-week period can lead to a formal notice.

Why garden contamination matters: Cardiff reports that around 6% of collected garden waste contains incorrect material, costing approximately £140,000 a year to remove and process before composting.

Can You Get an Extra or Larger General-Waste Bin?

Possibly, but Cardiff does not provide extra general-waste capacity simply because a household does not recycle.

You may qualify if…

You regularly produce additional general waste.
The extra waste is outside your control.
A medical need is one possible example.
You fully use weekly recycling.
You fully use weekly food-waste collection.

Council assessment

Contact Connect to Cardiff to ask for an assessment rather than buying or presenting an unofficial additional bin.

General-waste side bags are not an accepted substitute for approved extra capacity.

Where to Get Cardiff Recycling Sacks, Caddies & Liners

Cardiff’s postcode stockist search can identify nearby collection points for household recycling supplies.

Pick up locally

Blue paper sacks
Red plastics/cans sacks
Caddy liners
Kitchen food caddies
Reusable garden sacks

Order for delivery

Cardiff’s current service allows postcode-based ordering of kerbside food caddies and glass caddies.

Assisted households

Residents registered for assisted collections can order their containers for delivery where getting to a Hub is difficult.

Find Cardiff Bag & Caddy Stockists

Help Putting Cardiff Bags and Bins Out

Cardiff’s assisted-collection service is designed for residents who cannot physically move their containers and have nobody reasonably able to help them.

Typical eligibility

You are disabled and cannot carry the containers.
Nobody else in the home can do it.
No family member, neighbour or carer can reasonably help.

What happens

Cardiff’s Waste Team arranges a doorstep assessment to check that the proposed assisted collection point is safe for crews.

Once approved, the service starts from the next scheduled collection.

Two-year review: Cardiff contacts assisted-collection customers every two years to confirm that assistance is still required. Not replying can cause the assisted service to stop.

Limit: crews cannot enter the resident’s home to collect waste. Assisted collections are also not offered in the normal way to residents who use communal bins.

Cardiff Weekly Hygiene Collection

Households producing nappies or specified incontinence waste can register for a separate weekly hygiene service, which can also help prevent the fortnightly general-waste bin becoming overloaded.

Frequency Weekly

Bag colour Purple

Initial delivery 7–10 working days

No-use threshold 6 collections

Accepted

Nappies
Nappy sacks
Associated wipes and cotton wool
Adult incontinence pads

Not accepted

Catheters
Stoma or colostomy bags
Needles or syringes
Plasters and bandages
Sanitary waste
Animal faeces

No yellow storage caddy is supplied now. Residents can use their own container between collections, but the purple bags must be removed from that storage container when they are presented for collection.

Six-collection rule: if no hygiene bags are presented for six collections, Cardiff says the household will be removed from the service. It can apply again later.

Needles and syringes: Cardiff Council does not collect sharps through the hygiene service. Arrange a sharps collection through the appropriate local health service.

Cardiff Flats & Communal Bin Collections

Every block is different, so residents in apartments should follow the exact containers provided by their building rather than the kerbside sack system shown for houses.

Communal stream	Typical container	Normal frequency	Important rule
Containers / plastics	Red communal recycling bin	Weekly	Put accepted recycling loose in the correct bin.
Paper/cardboard	Blue communal recycling bin	Weekly	Keep separate where the building has split recycling.
Glass	Yellow-lidded glass bin	Building-dependent	Use only where provided.
Food	Brown communal food bin	Weekly	Use food-caddy liners, not ordinary plastic bags.
General waste	Communal refuse bin	Every 2 weeks	Do not block the bin with bulky items or bags outside it.

Old communal green recycling bins: Cardiff no longer supplies green mixed-recycling bags. Where a building still has a communal green recycling container and has not moved to separate bins, dry recycling can be placed loose in the communal recycling bin.

Missing communal bin? speak to the building’s landlord, caretaker, management company or property manager. They normally need to arrange replacement or additional communal containers.

Security matters: Cardiff warns that unsecured communal bin stores can become fly-tipping locations if people outside the development can access them.

Cardiff Bulky Waste Collection: Current Charges & Rules

Cardiff’s bulky collection is intended for residential items that are too large or awkward to fit into a car, or unsafe for one person to carry.

1–2 items £15

3–4 items £30

5–6 items £45

Maximum 6 items

Cardiff’s current bulky page also states that a £5 booking fee applies to all collections and is non-refundable. Confirm the total shown during checkout before paying.

Examples Cardiff collects

Large electrical appliances
UPVC windows and frames
Metal household items
White goods
Wood / MDF / laminate furniture
Carpets
Sofas and armchairs
Mattresses
Hard plastics

Cardiff does not collect

Glass doors
Small electrical appliances
Pianos
Asbestos
Garden waste
Soil and rubble
Bikes

Current fridge/freezer restriction: because of a national shortage of fridge and freezer reprocessing capacity, Cardiff has temporarily suspended council bulky collections for fridges, fridge-freezers and freezers. Recycling centres may also be unable to accept them because of limited storage. Check the current notice before transporting one.

Booking changes: you can swap booked items up to 2pm one working day before collection. You cannot add extra items to a paid booking; another booking is required.

Cancellation: Cardiff says a booking must normally be cancelled at least five working days before the collection date to qualify for a refund, while the £5 booking fee remains non-refundable.

Cardiff Recycling Centres: Lamby Way & Bessemer Close

Cardiff residents have two main household recycling centres. Both require a booking and are intended for household material that cannot reasonably use kerbside services.

8:30am Normal opening time

5:30pm Normal closing time

7 days Normal weekly opening

26 Maximum booked visits per year

Lamby Way Recycling Centre

Lamby Way
Rumney
Cardiff
CF3 2HP

Tyres and UPVC windows are among items specifically listed as Lamby Way-only services.

Bessemer Close Recycling Centre

Bessemer Close
Leckwith
Cardiff
CF11 8XH

Bessemer Close provides Cardiff’s household asbestos route, subject to advance telephone booking and quantity restrictions.

Christmas closures: both centres are normally closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Cardiff Recycling Centre Rules That Can Save a Wasted Journey

Book first

Bring proof of the booking and proof that you live at a Cardiff address.

No walking or cycling in

Cardiff’s household recycling centres are vehicle-access sites.

Sort before arrival

Unsorted black bags or mixed recycling may have to be opened and separated at the site.

Annual allowance: households can currently book up to 26 recycling-centre visits per year. Cars can use the allowance flexibly but cannot make more than three visits in one day.

Van or trailer: vans and cars towing trailers are restricted to one recycling-centre visit per month.

Small DIY only: Cardiff’s household sites cater for small domestic DIY projects. Large renovation/building waste should use an appropriate skip or commercial waste service.

Asbestos: Bessemer Close can accept a maximum of two asbestos sacks, but the visit must be booked by telephone rather than through the normal online booking service.

Cardiff Community Recycling Zones: Useful for Small Items

You do not always need to drive to Lamby Way or Bessemer Close for small awkward recyclables.

Small electricals

Many Cardiff Hubs and libraries have recycling points for small electrical devices.

Household batteries

Selected community recycling points take ordinary household batteries.

Hard plastics / books

Some locations also accept books, hard plastic items or ink cartridges depending on the site.

Check the location first. Community recycling zones do not all accept the same materials. Use Cardiff’s current zone list before carrying an item to a Hub.

Stop Forgetting Cardiff Bin Day: Use Free Reminders

Email reminders

Search your Cardiff collection dates and sign up for an email reminder at a time that suits your household.

Cardiff Gov app

The app can show recycling/waste dates, send reminders, report a missed collection, arrange bulky waste and book recycling-centre visits.

Household trick: set the reminder for the afternoon before collection. Cardiff allows containers onto the pavement after 4:30pm the previous day, which avoids a rushed 6am set-out.

Cardiff Collection Delays & Area-Wide Disruptions

If several properties have been missed, check whether Cardiff has published a disruption before treating the problem as an individual missed collection.

Rescheduled collection

Where Cardiff knows about an area-wide issue—particularly garden waste—the live collection information can be updated with a new scheduled date.

Leave it out when instructed

During an acknowledged delay, Cardiff may ask residents to leave the scheduled recycling or waste presented while crews catch up.

Official Cardiff Refuse & Recycling Shortcuts

Collection Dates

Search by house number and postcode.

Missed Collection

View collection status and report an eligible missed service.

Collection Types

Blue, red, food, glass, garden and general-waste rules.

Bags & Caddies

Find stockists or order eligible containers.

Bulky Items

Check prices, restrictions and make a booking.

Recycling Centres

Book Lamby Way or Bessemer Close and check current restrictions.

Connect to Cardiff (C2C)
Telephone: 029 2087 2087

Cardiff Council
County Hall
Atlantic Wharf
Cardiff
CF10 4UW

Cardiff Refuse Collection FAQs

1. How do I check my Cardiff refuse collection date?

Use Cardiff Council’s official collection-date checker and enter your house number and postcode. It shows the next waste and recycling collections registered to your property and lets you set email reminders.

2. What time should Cardiff bins and recycling be put out?

Put scheduled bins, bags and caddies on the pavement before 6am on collection day. Cardiff asks residents not to put them out before 4:30pm on the previous day. Empty containers should be removed from the pavement by 9am the following day.

3. What time does Cardiff refuse collection finish?

Cardiff Council’s current collection information says routine recycling and waste collections take place between 6am and 3:30pm, Tuesday to Friday. The arrival time can vary from week to week.

4. How long do I have to report a missed Cardiff bin?

Cardiff says missed waste or recycling collections must be reported within 48 hours of the scheduled collection. Check your live property status first because a collection marked “Not collected” may already show the reason and next action.

5. What goes in Cardiff’s blue recycling sack?

The blue sack is for paper and cardboard, including newspapers, magazines, envelopes, cereal boxes, cardboard packaging and other accepted fibre materials. Food and drink cartons such as Tetra Pak belong in the red sack rather than the blue paper sack.

6. What goes in Cardiff’s red recycling sack?

The red sack takes accepted plastic bottles, tubs and trays, food and drink cans, clean foil, empty household aerosols and Tetra Pak cartons. Soft plastic films, crisp packets, carrier bags and hard plastic toys are not accepted in the red sack.

7. How often is Cardiff food waste collected?

Food waste is collected every week. Cardiff accepts cooked and raw food including fruit and vegetable peelings, leftovers, eggshells, meat and bones, dairy products, fish, tea bags and coffee grounds.

8. How often is general waste collected in Cardiff?

General non-recyclable household waste is normally collected every two weeks. Households should fully use weekly recycling and food collections to reduce the amount of refuse left in the general waste bin.

9. Can I leave extra black bags beside my Cardiff general-waste bin?

No. Cardiff says extra general-waste bags placed beside the bin will not be collected and incorrect waste presentation can result in enforcement action. Households with unavoidable regular extra waste can contact the council for an assessment for additional or larger capacity.

10. Where are Cardiff’s household recycling centres?

Cardiff’s two household recycling centres are Lamby Way Recycling Centre in Rumney, CF3 2HP, and Bessemer Close Recycling Centre in Leckwith, CF11 8XH. Both normally open from 8:30am to 5:30pm daily and require advance booking. Check current restrictions before travelling.