Brown general waste bin or bags
Brown general waste bin
All councils
Plymouth 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
Bins in Plymouth
These are the containers used in Plymouth. Which ones a home has depends on its address.
Green recycling bin or bags
Green recycling bin
Container details
The container pictures and words are Plymouth City Council's own. This may not be every container it uses.
- Brown general waste bin or bags: Homes using a brown bin rather than bags or a communal waste bin
- Green recycling bin or bags: Homes using a green bin rather than bags or communal green bins
Container descriptions checked 20 September 2026; list of collections built from Plymouth City Council's own service names 22 September 2026.
Order, book and apply
- Request, replace, remove or change a bin or bagPlymouth City Council
- Garden waste collectionsPlymouth City Council
- Food waste collectionsPlymouth City Council
- Get rid of a bulky itemPlymouth City Council
- Recycling centres and tipsPlymouth City Council
- Get help putting your bins outPlymouth City Council
Links checked 19 September 2026.
Missed bin or a problem
Tell Plymouth City Council first - it can only fix what it knows about.
- Report a missed binA bin that wasn't emptied on the day.
- Make a complaint to Plymouth 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 unitary authority councillors can take up a repeated problem or a wider service failure. Find and write to my unitary authority councillors on Plymouth 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.
How Plymouth compares
- Recycled or composted
- 33%of household waste, 2024 to 2025
- Rubbish not recycled
- 563 kgper household a year
- Cost of collections
- £124per household a year. Similar councils: £74
- Value for money
- 1 out of 10 An independently constructed WhenIsBins rating, not an official government rating.
Official figures for England, 2024 to 2025.
Local bins and recycling news
AI-generated summary, reviewed before publication. Checked 18 September 2026.
A January 2026 report set out Plymouth’s planned food-waste rollout, starting in March in Devonport, Stoke, Southway, Whitleigh, Plympton and Plymstock. Food scraps would go into the new caddies rather than existing brown bins. Further phases were scheduled for July, August, September and November.
Households would receive kitchen and outdoor caddies, while some flats and shared houses would use communal outdoor bins. Councillor Tom Briars-Delve said weekly collections would increase recycling, cut emissions and could help families save money by wasting less food. First-phase households were to be contacted by post before collections started.
- Weekly food waste collections to start in Plymouth from March — www.plymouthchronicle.co.uk