AI agents: an API is available for looking up bin collection dates.
All councilsBelfast bin collection dates
- Add your dates to Google, Apple or Outlook calendar
- Get an email the evening before
- Print an A4 sheet for the fridge
Christmas and New Year bin collections in Belfast
Household collections. Bin collections due on Friday 25 December (Christmas Day) take place on Saturday 19 December, and those due on Friday 1 January (New Year's Day) on Saturday 2 January; collections on Monday 28 and Thursday 31 December are as normal. Kerbside recycling box collections due on Friday 25 December move to Sunday 27 December, and those due on Friday 1 January to Saturday 2 January.
Council source. Checked 10 November 2026.
Look up your address above for its dates. Christmas and New Year collections across the UK.
Bins in Belfast
These are the containers used in Belfast. Which ones a home has depends on its address.
Compost bin
Container details
The container pictures and words are Belfast City Council's own. This may not be every container it uses.
List of collections built from Belfast City Council's own service names 22 September 2026.
Wait until after 7pm to report a missed bin
Applies to: Council missed-bin reporting; recycling-box disruption instructions may differ.
Belfast asks you to wait until after 7pm on collection day before reporting a missed bin. If the crew left a tag about the contents, weight, lid or a large liner, follow that advice: the council does not treat those rejected bins as missed collections.
Read the council’s full instructions. Checked 30 September 2026.
Order, book and apply
- When and where to put your bins outBelfast City Council
- Food waste collectionsBelfast City Council
- Get rid of a bulky itemBelfast City Council
- Recycling centres and tipsBelfast City Council
- Get help putting your bins outBelfast City Council
Links checked 20 September 2026.
Missed bin or a problem
Tell Belfast City Council first - it can only fix what it knows about.
Missed-bin guidance checked 20 September 2026.
- Report a missed binA bin that wasn't emptied on the day.
- Make a complaint to Belfast City CouncilIf reporting it didn't fix it.
Complaint didn't work either? Ask your councillors
If you've already reported the problem and used the council's complaints process, your district councillors can take up a repeated problem or a wider service failure. Find and write to my district councillors on Belfast City Council.
WriteToThem is an independent mySociety service. You'll enter your postcode there before choosing who to contact.
Complaint routes verified 6 September 2026.
Local bins and recycling news
AI-generated summary, reviewed before publication. Checked 18 September 2026.
Belfast’s February 2026 glass-recycling expansion was scheduled to bring purple boxes and fortnightly collections to more than 23,000 additional households in parts of west, south and east Belfast. Deliveries were planned for February–March.
Separately, the council proposed removing council-owned bins left obstructing streets after letters and a seven-day warning sticker. The proposal covers blue and brown bins and recycling boxes. Privately owned black bins would be excluded. Officers said stickers should be ready in September 2026; a start date was not confirmed. The council said the plan responds to residents’ complaints about obstructions.
- Belfast City Council expands kerbside glass recycling to a ... — www.belfastcity.gov.uk
- Belfast City Council in threat to confiscate people's bins if they don't follow rules — www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk