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Somerset bin collection days

Somerset Council empties the household waste bin every three weeks for most homes, and collects recycling and food waste every week. Recycling is sorted at the kerbside into a bright blue bag and two boxes, rather than one mixed bin. Garden waste is a paid fortnightly service. Communal properties can be on a different pattern, so check the address calendar before you assume the three-week rubbish round applies.

Last checked against 7 sources (www.somerset.gov.uk).

What goes in each bin

Household waste bin · General waste

Bin · Every three weeks

Yes please

  • Household waste that cannot be recycled
  • Vacuum cleaner contents
  • Cat, dog or other pet litter and waste
  • Nappies
  • Cold ash, bagged so it does not make dust
  • Broken glass, carefully wrapped
  • Up to four council bin sacks, where a wheeled bin is not suitable

Not in this one

  • Food waste
  • Anything collected for recycling
  • Garden waste
  • Hot ash, charcoal or other hot fuel
  • Rubble, earth and stones
  • Household or vehicle batteries
  • Gas canisters
  • Aerosols
  • Hypodermics
  • Bulky household items
  • Engine oil, paint or other chemicals
  • Business or commercial waste
  • Extra waste on top of or beside the bin

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Bright Blue Bag · Mixed recycling

Bag · Every week

Yes please

  • Plastic bottles, rinsed and squashed, with caps and tops back on
  • Plastic pots, tubs and trays of any colour
  • Non-black plastic plant pots
  • Steel or aluminium tins and cans, rinsed
  • Rinsed and scrunched aluminium foil
  • Empty aerosols, not pierced
  • Empty toothpaste tubes

Not in this one

  • Pumps and trigger sprays
  • Gas canisters
  • Compostable or biodegradable packaging
  • Plastic films and wrappers, including crisp packets, pet food pouches, film lids and bread bags
  • Black sacks
  • Nappies and pet excrement
  • Business or commercial waste

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Box 1 (usually black) · Paper and card

Box · Every week

Yes please

  • Newspapers, magazines, leaflets, directories and white paper
  • White envelopes, including ones with windows
  • Brown or grey cardboard, corrugated card and greeting cards
  • Brown envelopes
  • Pringles brand tubes with a non-metal base
  • Up to one extra box of cardboard, broken into pieces no larger than the recycling box

Not in this one

  • Shiny or thermal paper, including many till receipts
  • Old or unused wallpaper
  • Boxes larger than the black recycling box, unless they are torn up
  • Very large quantities of cardboard, which should go to a recycling centre

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Box 2 (usually green) · Glass

Box · Every week

Yes please

  • Rinsed glass bottles and jars, with metal or plastic tops and lids back on
  • Cartons such as Tetra Paks, rinsed and squashed with caps back on

Not in this one

  • Broken glass
  • Tableware, cookware, Pyrex, mirrors, drinking glasses and vases
  • Light bulbs
  • Single-use paper cups

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Brown food waste bin · Food waste

Bin · Every week

Yes please

  • All food waste, cooked or raw
  • Meat and fish, including bones and carcasses if they fit in the brown bin
  • Fruit and vegetables
  • Bread, pasta and cereal
  • Tea bags, coffee grounds and coffee filter paper
  • Cheese and eggs
  • Pet food
  • Paper kitchen towel and napkins
  • Newspaper wrapping, or compostable liners with the looped seedling logo

Not in this one

  • Plastic bags
  • Food packaging such as foil, cardboard or plastic
  • Liquid food waste, including cooking oil
  • Garden waste
  • Cat litter, dog or cat waste, and dead animals
  • Biodegradable bags that are not compostable corn-starch liners

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Garden waste bin or compostable paper sacks · Garden waste

Bin · Every two weeks

Yes please

  • Flowers and plants
  • Grass cuttings
  • Hedge trimmings and leaves
  • Small branches less than 15cm wide, and bark
  • Straw or sawdust used as bedding for household vegetarian pets such as rabbits and hamsters, in small quantities

Not in this one

  • Plastics, including plant pots and bags
  • Metal, glass, stone, rubble, ceramics, soil, turf, compost or clay flower pots
  • Compostable or biodegradable bags
  • Food waste, vacuum cleaner waste and nappies
  • Cat litter, dog or cat waste, and dead animals
  • Bedding or waste from micro-pigs, chickens, pigeons or aviary birds
  • Plants treated with persistent herbicides such as aminopyralid, clopyralid or picloram
  • Treated wood and material with ash dieback
  • Ragwort, docks, thistles, honey fungus and invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Bag of wearable clothes and shoes · Textiles

Bag · Every week

Yes please

  • Clothes good enough to wear again, in a tied bag on top of a recycling box
  • Shoes, in the same tied bag

Not in this one

  • Bedding, curtains, blankets and throws
  • Clothes that are not good enough to take to a charity shop

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Check your bin day

Use Somerset’s own page for your bin day

The council's bin collection date finder needs a browser, which BinWeek's lookup service does not run, so the page links to the council's own finder.

Find my bin day on www.somerset.gov.uk(opens in a new tab)

How often each bin is collected

Collection frequency by bin for Somerset
BinCollected
Household waste bin · General wasteEvery three weeks
Bright Blue Bag · Mixed recyclingEvery week
Box 1 (usually black) · Paper and cardEvery week
Box 2 (usually green) · GlassEvery week
Brown food waste bin · Food wasteEvery week
Garden waste bin or compostable paper sacks · Garden wasteEvery two weeks
Bag of wearable clothes and shoes · TextilesEvery week

Food waste and the national recycling rules

Somerset collects food waste every week. Somerset collects food waste every week, on the same day as the other recycling, in a brown kitchen caddy and a lockable brown bin for outside. The food is taken to an anaerobic digester near Bridgwater and used to make energy and a soil improver. Compostable packaging is not accepted in that collection, apart from corn-starch liners that carry the looped seedling logo.

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Garden waste

Garden waste is a paid-for service. A wheeled bin subscription is £76.30. A pack of ten garden waste sacks is £37.90. Somerset Council says these prices are valid until 31 March 2027. There is no refund for cancelling during the year. Subscribers have a collection every two weeks, using a 180-litre wheeled bin or 90-litre compostable paper sacks. The service pauses for two weeks after Christmas, and the price takes that pause into account. Collections can also stop in severe weather. Sacks are only collected if you request a collection before midday on the day before.

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

If your bin was missed

Report a missed collection on Somerset Council's online form. Before you do, check the container was out on the right day, held only the right items, and was not tagged with a reason for non-collection. If you have already reported it this week and it is still out after two working days, the council asks for the eight-digit service request number. Report missed rubbish or garden waste on the collection day or up to 5 working days later, and missed recycling on the day or up to 3 working days later. On the day itself, wait until after 7pm. The form asks you to confirm the containers were out by 6am.

Source: www.somerset.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), read

Your nearest tip

Good to know in Somerset

  • Only bins and sacks supplied by Somerset Council or Somerset Waste Partnership are collected. Unless you have an assisted collection, the collection pages say containers should be at the edge of the property by 7am on collection day, and no earlier than the night before. Lids should be closed.
  • Rubbish that cannot be recycled goes to an energy-from-waste plant in Avonmouth. Homes that cannot store a wheeled bin, because of steps or a lack of off-road space, can put out up to four bin sacks instead.
  • The bright blue bag takes plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, tins, foil, empty aerosols and empty toothpaste tubes. Box 1, usually black, is for paper and card. Box 2, usually green, is for glass bottles and jars and for cartons. Households with very little recycling may put it all in one box.
  • Small household batteries go out in a tied plastic bag, and small electrical items no bigger than a carrier bag go in an untied bag. Vapes stay separate in a small tied bag. Televisions, monitors and microwaves are not collected at the kerb. Wearable clothes and shoes go in a tied bag on top of a recycling box. Shredded confidential paper can also go in a tied carrier bag.
  • Plastic film and wrappers are not on the weekly recycling list. The council points people to supermarket soft-plastic collections instead.
  • Food waste uses a brown caddy indoors and a brown bin outside. Pull the handle forward to lock the lid when you put it out. Liners must show the looped seedling logo. Plastic bags, and bags only marked biodegradable, are refused.
  • Garden waste is not in the rubbish bin. Collected garden waste is composted in Somerset and sold back as Revive soil conditioner at the recycling centres. Home composting, or a trip to a recycling centre, is the alternative to a subscription.
  • Bulky collections, until 31 March 2027, cost £82.60 for up to three items and an extra £20.80 for each further item, with a maximum of five items. Two people must be able to lift what you book. Unusual items, such as old fuel tanks, need a phone call to 0300 123 2224 before you book. Many bulky items can instead go to a recycling centre, some of them at no charge.
  • Assisted collections are free if you cannot carry containers to the kerbside for health reasons. Clinical waste is also a free collection, with different rules for tiger bags, orange infectious bags and sharps boxes. Sharps never go in the household bin.
  • As of 3 October 2026 the recycling centres page listed Bridgwater, Castle Cary, Chard, Cheddar, Crewkerne, Dulverton, Frome, Highbridge, Minehead, Somerton, Street, Taunton, Wellington, Wells, Williton and Yeovil. Each site has its own closed weekdays. Every centre on that page is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Bin questions in Somerset

How often does Somerset collect rubbish and recycling?

For most households the wheeled rubbish bin is emptied every three weeks. Recycling and food waste are collected every week, though communal properties can differ. The collection day finder on the council's website shows the dates for an address.

How much is Somerset's garden waste subscription?

Until 31 March 2027 a wheeled bin subscription is £76.30 and a pack of ten compostable paper sacks is £37.90. Collections are fortnightly and pause for two weeks after Christmas. The council does not refund a subscription cancelled during the year.

When should I report a missed bin in Somerset?

Wait until after 7pm on the collection day. Rubbish and garden waste can be reported that day or up to 5 working days later. Recycling can be reported that day or up to 3 working days later. The form expects the containers to have been out by 6am.

What does a bulky waste collection cost in Somerset?

Until 31 March 2027 the charge is £82.60 for up to three items, then £20.80 for each extra item, and you can book five items at most. Items must be liftable by two people. Call 0300 123 2224 before booking something unusual.

Guides that may help

Nearby councils