Southampton City Council Bin Collection Dates

Southampton City Council collects household waste and recycling across the city, covering areas including Shirley, Bassett, Portswood, Highfield, Freemantle, Millbrook, Lordshill, Bitterne, Thornhill, Woolston and Sholing. Collections are managed directly by the council's waste services team. Southampton operates alternate fortnightly collections for general waste and recycling. The black bin for non-recyclable general waste is emptied one fortnight, and the blue bin for mixed recycling is emptied the following fortnight — the two bins are never collected on the same week. Glass is collected in a separate black glass box on the same fortnight as the blue recycling bin. The blue recycling bin accepts paper and card, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, food and drink cans, and cartons. Items should be clean, dry and loose — not bagged. The black bin should only contain non-recyclable waste that cannot go in any other collection. Bagging rubbish inside the black bin is recommended. Glass bottles and jars go in the glass box, not the blue bin. The glass box is collected every two weeks on recycling week. It should be left beside your blue bin. Food waste is collected every week in a small food caddy provided by the council. The caddy accepts all food waste whether cooked or raw, including meat, fish, dairy, fruit, vegetables, leftovers and bread. No packaging should be placed in the caddy. A brown bin for garden waste is available as a subscription service. It accepts grass cuttings, leaves, hedge trimmings, prunings, plants and small branches. If you are not subscribed to the garden waste service, the brown bin will not appear in your collection results. Contact Southampton City Council to sign up. Bins and boxes should be placed at the kerbside by 6:30am on your collection day. If your collection falls on a bank holiday, Southampton City Council usually adjusts the schedule — check your waste calendar for specific dates around bank holidays. Enter your postcode below to find your bin collection dates.

Collection frequency: General waste and recycling fortnightly on alternate weeks. Glass fortnightly (recycling week). Food waste weekly. Garden waste fortnightly (subscription required).