About our information

Knowing which bin to put out should be simple. We do the digging through council websites so you don’t have to.

WhenIsBins is free, built and funded by Public Digital Limited. It’s an experiment in making services work for people and their AI agents.

Start with the council

We read your council’s bin checker and, where available, its collection calendar. We match the information to your address or collection round. Your result links to the source and tells you when we checked it.

We save dates to make repeat lookups quicker and keep calendar subscriptions up to date. “Last checked” means when we read the information. The council may have changed it since, so the source link is there if you need to check.

Bin colours and descriptions come from the council too. Our council pages bring together guidance, reporting links and local news. News is background reading; it doesn’t set your collection dates.

Sometimes we have part of the answer

Some councils publish a full calendar. Others only show the next collection. We show what we’ve found and explain any gaps beside your dates.

• Projected date: the council gave a weekday, and we could work out its next occurrence. We show that one date. We don’t invent a fortnightly pattern.
• Partial dates: we have dates for some bins, or only a short stretch of the calendar.
• Nearby property: we may offer its dates while explaining that they aren’t confirmed for your home. We ask for consent where needed. A provisional answer stays off calendars and reminders.

Garden waste often needs a paid subscription. A date tells you when the collection happens, not whether your home is signed up.

Building something with this?

The API and MCP guide explains how to get bin dates into an app or AI assistant. Occasional personal use is free without an account. For regular use, ask us for a free token with a higher allowance.

For commercial use, contact hello@whenisbins.com first. That includes using the service through MCP.

Keep the source links and explanations with any dates you share. If an answer is partial or based on a nearby property, the next person needs to know that too. Follow the guide’s request limits and waiting times so the service works for everyone. Only send someone’s details if you have permission to use them.

Council websites, images and address data have their own terms for reuse. Check those at the source before publishing them elsewhere. The API doesn’t change who owns that material.

How we compare councils

Our bin service comparison uses official figures for spending, recycling and waste. The rating is ours. You can read the method and its limits, including which years the figures cover.

Spotted a mistake?

Tell us. Use “Tell us something is wrong” on the page, or email hello@whenisbins.com. Say which council and what needs fixing.

For a missed collection, find your council’s reporting service. For information about your personal data, read our privacy page.