Adur and Worthing collect refuse and recycling on alternate weeks, every other week. Garden waste is a paid weekly round. Food waste is a new weekly round that starts home by home from September 2026, on the same weekday as the refuse or recycling bin. Put bins out by 6:30am.
Last checked against 4 sources (www.adur-worthing.gov.uk).
What goes in each bin
Refuse bin · General waste
Bin · Every two weeks
Yes please
Household rubbish on the fortnightly refuse round
Food waste that is still in the refuse bin until that home's separate food round has started
Not in this one
Extra bags of general waste beside the bin
Batteries and vapes, which the recycling page says must not go in a refuse bin
Adur does not collect food waste every week. Weekly food collections start in stages from September 2026. A letter and starter pack say when a home begins. Until then food stays in the refuse bin. Houses get a 5-litre kitchen caddy and a 23-litre outdoor bin with an orange lockable lid. Flats get the kitchen caddy, and a 140-litre orange-lidded bin in the bin store. The food round is the same weekday as refuse or recycling, and it is weekly once it has started. Liners can be compostable, newspaper or kitchen roll. The council does not recommend plastic bags.
Garden waste is a paid-for service. £99.00 a year for a 240 litre green lidded bin, from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027. Council garden sacks are £2.05 each and hold 75 litres. New bin delivery can take up to six weeks, and the subscription starts on the first of the month after the bin arrives. The bin is collected every week except the first two weeks after Christmas and New Year. Extra garden waste beside the bin is left unless it is in a council garden sack. Put the bin or sack out by 6:30am.
Use the bin day page to report a miss. If the crew missed it by mistake they aim to come back. They will not come back if the bin was late, blocked, overfilled, or held the wrong waste. After a bank holiday the collection day moves forward one working day. Report within two working days. Bins should be out by 6:30am and may be collected up until 2pm.
The recycling page asks for items to be clean, dry, loose and squashed flat. Large cardboard is cut or torn so it fits in the wheelie bin. A small amount of glitter on a greetings card is accepted. Wrapping paper has to pass the scrunch test: if it springs open it contains plastic and is not taken.
Hard toothpaste tubes with pumps go in the general waste bin. Squeezy tubes go in the recycling bin with the lid left on. Milk bottles are listed as glass the council cannot recycle. Glass bottles and jars are accepted.
Small electrical items can sit beside the rubbish or recycling bin on collection day. The list includes kettles, toasters, hairdryers, power tools, radios and smoke detectors. Mobile phones, computers, televisions, microwaves, vacuum cleaners, fridges and washing machines are not collected at the kerb. Vapes go in a bag beside the bin, not inside the refuse or recycling bin. Batteries go in a bag for the same kerbside service, or to a shop take-back point.
Garden subscriptions are £99.00 for the year 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027, for a 240 litre green lidded bin with three dots embossed on it. Sacks with the council logo are £2.05 and hold 75 litres. Only those sacks are taken. Apply or ask about a missed garden bin on 01903 851729. If payment is late, reinstatement can take up to 14 days. The page also gives 01273 263050 if someone is struggling to pay.
Of the food the council finds in bins, 70% could have been eaten, 41% was not used in time and 25% was cooked in too large a quantity. The same page estimates that cutting that waste could save a family of four £80 a month. Those figures are the council's, from the food waste page.
The recycling page says one extra squash bottle a week from every household could save the councils over £13,000 a year, one extra can a week over £7,000 in landfill tax, and one extra wine bottle a month over £26,000. Recycling enquiries use 01903 851729.
Bin questions in Adur
How often are Adur bins collected?
Refuse and recycling continue every other week. Once a home's food round has started, that bin is weekly on the same day as refuse or recycling. Garden bins are weekly except the first two weeks after Christmas and New Year. The day is on the bin day search.
Has Adur food waste collection started?
It starts in stages from September 2026. Homes due to start in September were sent a letter. No letter or starter pack in August means phase two, and the council says it will write again. The pack for a house is a 5-litre caddy, a 23-litre orange-lidded bin and a roll of liners.
What do I do if Adur missed my bin?
Report it within two working days on the bin day page. It needs to have been out by 6:30am, visible from the road, with the lid closed and the right waste inside. Collections can run until 2pm. Side waste is not taken except after bank holidays or over Christmas and New Year.
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