South Oxfordshire, collected by Biffa, uses a green wheelie bin for mixed recycling, a black bin for everything else, a green food caddy every week, and a brown garden bin only if you buy a permit. Recycling and rubbish alternate, one each fortnight. Soft plastics stay out of the green bin, and black-bin rubbish is burned at Ardley near Bicester rather than landfilled.
Last checked against 6 sources (www.southoxon.gov.uk).
What goes in each bin
Black non-recyclable waste bin · General waste
Bin · Every two weeks
Yes please
Black bags and soft plastics the green bin will not take
Crisp, biscuit and sweet wrappers
Polystyrene, bubble wrap and plastic wrapping
Coffee cups, kitchen roll, tissues and food-stained card
Cooled ash, wood, and compostable plates, cups and cutlery
Green recycling wheelie bin or clear sack · Mixed recycling
Every two weeks
Green food caddy · Food waste
Every week
Brown garden waste bin · Garden waste
Every two weeks
Food waste and the national recycling rules
South Oxfordshire collects food waste every week. South Oxfordshire collects food every week in a small kitchen caddy and a larger outdoor caddy. Liners can be newspaper, a plastic carrier or bread bag, or a compostable liner, but not a black bag. The food is treated at an anaerobic digestion plant in Benson, near Wallingford. The council says that takes 85 days and the energy powers 4,800 homes.
Garden waste is a paid-for service. For 2026/27 a permit bought from 1 April to 30 September, running to 31 March 2027, costs £78. A permit bought from 1 October to 31 January, also running to 31 March 2027, costs £39. The sticker goes on the lid of the brown bin. Garden waste is collected on the same day as recycling, starting at 6am, usually in the recycling week. Extra garden waste, up to four standard sacks, is collected free between 20 April and 1 May 2026 and between 2 and 13 November 2026.
Report a missed bin online, or contact the council's contractor Biffa on 01235 422123 or admin.southoxford@biffa.co.uk. Check first that neighbours were collected and that the day has not moved for a bank holiday. If snow, ice, high winds or extreme heat stops a round, leave the bins out rather than reporting each one. Bins need to be out before 6am, when collections start. If they are still out at 6pm, report the miss by 5pm on the next working day. In bad weather the council asks you to leave bins out for two days.
The green bin takes plastic bottles, pots, tubs, black food trays, cartons, glass, cans, aerosols, foil, paper and card together, loose or in a clear sack. Soft plastics, from bread bags and cling film to crisp packets and bubble wrap, are refused at the kerbside. The council sends those to supermarket collection points. Food, black bags, nappies or textiles in the green bin can get a whole street's recycling rejected at the sorting plant in St Albans.
Black-bin rubbish goes to the energy recovery facility at Ardley, which the council says generates electricity for over 60,000 homes across Oxfordshire. The lid has to be fully closed or the bin is not collected.
Food caddies can hold cooking oil if it is in a plastic bottle no bigger than 1 litre, inside the caddy or beside it. Glass bottles of oil are refused. Packaging, including compostable packaging, does not go in, because the Benson plant's fertiliser would be contaminated.
A garden permit for 2026/27 is £78 if you buy it from 1 April to 30 September, or £39 from 1 October to 31 January. Both run to 31 March 2027. Keep the old sticker until the last March collection, then put the new one on the lid. A new brown bin is aimed to arrive within 15 working days.
Permit holders can put out up to four extra 60 litre sacks on the normal garden day between 20 April and 1 May 2026, and again between 2 and 13 November 2026. Builders' bags and anything over 60 litre are left. Gardeners and grounds firms cannot use the household service.
A few homes that cannot store a wheelie bin can apply to use sacks. Garden waste for everyone else is loose in the brown bin: no liners, even compostable ones, because the composting happens outdoors near Wallingford and bags blow onto farmland.
Biffa's number on the bin pages is 01235 422123. The garden waste team is 01235 422422, or gardenwaste@southandvale.gov.uk. As of 3 October 2026 the pages read did not publish a dated 2026 Christmas collection timetable. They do say to check the calendar when a bank holiday moves a day.
Bin questions in South Oxfordshire
How often are South Oxfordshire bins emptied?
Food waste is every week. The green recycling bin and the black rubbish bin alternate, each once a fortnight. Paid garden waste is usually the same week as recycling, and collections start at 6am.
How much is a South Oxfordshire garden waste permit?
£78 if you buy it between 1 April and 30 September, or £39 between 1 October and 31 January. Both permits run until 31 March 2027.
When do I report a missed bin in South Oxfordshire?
Put the bin out before 6am. If it is still full at 6pm, report it by 5pm the next working day, online or through Biffa on 01235 422123. In bad weather, leave it out for two days instead of reporting.
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