St Albans splits recycling into a black wheelie bin and a black or green box, and keeps rubbish in a brown bin. That is the opposite of councils where black means rubbish. Food goes in a small green caddy every week. Garden waste is a separate green bin, and only if you pay. Veolia runs the collections.
Last checked against 4 sources (www.stalbans.gov.uk).
What goes in each bin
Brown wheeled bin, or purple refuse sacks · General waste
Bin · Varies by area, so check your address
Yes please
Household rubbish that cannot go in the recycling containers
Waste fully inside the brown bin with the lid shut
Purple sacks where a wheeled bin is not suitable, up to 3 sacks a collection
Brown wheeled bin, or purple refuse sacks · General waste
Varies by area, so check your address
Black wheeled bin · Mixed recycling
Every two weeks
Black or green recycling box · Paper and card
Every two weeks
Small green caddy · Food waste
Every week
Green wheeled bin, paid subscription · Garden waste
Every two weeks
Bag of textiles, set out beside the bin · Textiles
Every week
Separate bag of small electricals · Other collection
Every week
Food waste and the national recycling rules
St Albans collects food waste every week. The small green caddy is emptied every week. A liner is optional. Compostable paper or corn-starch liners, paper bags, carrier bags and bread bags are accepted. Black bags are not. The council says the food is taken to a plant that makes renewable energy and biofertiliser. Cartons and Tetra Pak move into the black recycling bin from 1 April 2026 rather than the paper box.
Garden waste is a paid-for service. Subscriptions for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 are open. The first bin, or a pair of bags where a bin will not fit, is £69. Residents who receive Council Tax Support pay £30 for that first bin. Single Person Discount does not qualify. Each extra bin or pair of bags is £114, and a household can add up to three. There is no cheaper price for joining after 1 July, and no refund for stopping during the year. Paid garden waste is collected every fortnight through the subscription year, except a two-week pause from 25 December 2026. Collections start again on 11 January 2027. A sticker has to be on the bin or on each pair of bags. Letters and stickers can take up to 14 days after payment. The garden waste helpline is 01727 819322, open Monday to Thursday 09:00 to 17:00 and Friday 09:00 to 16:30.
Report a missed collection only if the right materials were in the right container and it was on the property boundary when the crew came. Collections are not tied to a slot: they can happen any time between 05:00am and 18:00pm. The form is linked from the rubbish collections page. Tell the council within 48 hours of the collection day. After that, the next scheduled collection is the next chance. Containers should be out by 5am.
Houses alternate the brown rubbish bin with the black recycling bin and the paper box, each every other week. Properties that cannot take a wheeled bin get purple sacks, delivered twice a year, and the crew will take up to 3 sacks a collection. Extra bags beside the brown bin stay behind. The council describes householders as having 90 litres of landfill capacity a week.
Flats recycle the same materials in communal bins. Recycling is collected every two weeks with no cap on the number of bins. Landfill is every week, at 90 litres per property. Food is weekly. Garden waste is not collected from flats, and communal gardens are left to the contractor who maintains them.
The black bin takes plastic bottles, pots, tubs, trays, cans, aerosols, glass bottles and jars, and clean foil. Cartons and Tetra Pak join that bin from 1 April 2026. Paper, card and flattened boxes go in the box, kept dry if you can. Wet card can be turned away. Card that will not fit can be flattened and stacked between the bin and the boxes. The lorry has two compartments, so paper must stay out of the black bin.
Small electricals and textiles are a weekly extra, in bags you provide, placed next to the bin and not in black sacks. Batteries, vapes, kettles and paired shoes can go. Televisions, washing machines, duvets and rugs cannot. The two sorts of item have to be bagged apart from each other.
A standard rubbish bin is 180l. A home with 6 or more permanent residents can ask for a 240l bin. An audit may follow every 6 months. Households with children in nappies can ask Veolia for white nappy sacks: two white sacks may go beside a full brown bin, or there is a chargeable weekly service at £21.50.
Replacement wheeled bins are £45 each, garden waste bags £15, boxes or lids £10, a box lid on its own £3.00, and caddies £10. You get up to three recycling boxes free. Veolia's number for containers is 01727 809019. Mark the bin with the house number, because the crew will not promise to bring the same one back.
A contaminated communal recycling bin is not emptied. Emptying a contaminated 1100 or 660 litre bin costs £167, and a 240 litre one costs £70, arranged with Veolia. Managing agents are expected to get contaminated bins emptied and to report a miss within 48 hours.
Article 4 conservation streets get purple sacks, recycling boxes and reusable garden bags rather than wheeled bins. Other conservation streets can have bins if they are stored out of sight between collections. Garden subscribers in those tight streets get two 120 litres bags instead of a 240 litre bin.
As of 3 October 2026 the HTML pages did not list altered rubbish or recycling days for Christmas. The garden service does: it stops for two weeks from 25 December 2026 and returns on 11 January 2027. On the first garden day after that pause, subscribers may add the equivalent of 3 black bags beside the bin.
Bin questions in St Albans
How often does St Albans collect bins?
Food, small electricals and textiles are weekly. For houses, the brown rubbish bin, the black recycling bin and the paper box each come every other week, with rubbish on the opposite week to recycling. Paid garden waste is fortnightly except over Christmas and New Year. Flats have weekly landfill and fortnightly recycling.
How much is the St Albans garden waste subscription?
For 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 the first bin is £69, or £30 with Council Tax Support. Each extra bin is £114, up to three extras. Joining after 1 July still costs the full amount. Direct debit renews the subscription so you do not have to reapply. The helpline is 01727 819322.
When should I report a missed bin in St Albans?
Within 48 hours of the collection day, and only if the container was at the boundary with the right materials in it. Put containers out by 5am. The crew can come any time between 05:00am and 18:00pm.
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