WhenIsBinswhenisbins

Terms and conditions

These terms apply when you use WhenIsBins: this website, its calendar links and email reminders, the API and the MCP server. By using WhenIsBins you agree to them.

Last updated 24 October 2026.

Who we are

WhenIsBins is run by Public Digital Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 09819399). Our registered office is 9 Perseverance Works, London E2 8DD. You can contact us at hello@whenisbins.com.

WhenIsBins is an independent service. It is not run by your council and it is not a government service.

What WhenIsBins does

WhenIsBins is free. We read the information councils publish about household bin collections and match it to your address or collection round. Your council decides when your bins are collected, and it can change collection dates at short notice, for example around bank holidays or in bad weather.

Every answer links to the council’s own information and says when we checked it. If a date matters to you, check that source. We label answers that are projected, partial or based on a nearby property, and we explain what those labels mean on About our information.

Using the website fairly

You may use WhenIsBins to find collection information for your own home, or to help someone else with their permission. An AI assistant acting for one person is welcome to use the website. Software that makes regular or repeated requests should use the API instead.

You must not:

  • collect information from the website in bulk, or with automated tools that make large numbers of requests
  • try to get around our usage limits, security or access controls, or try to gain access to parts of the service or data you are not meant to reach
  • do anything that overloads, disrupts or damages the service, or introduce viruses or other harmful code (this can be a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990)
  • enter someone else’s details without their permission, or give information you know is false
  • use WhenIsBins to break the law or to harass anyone
  • pretend to be us or a council, or suggest that we endorse you

Using the API and MCP server

The API and MCP guide sets out how the API works and the current usage allowances. These rules apply to the API, and to the MCP server, which uses the API.

  • Personal use. You can make occasional queries without a token, within the free anonymous allowances.
  • Regular use. Ask for a free token at hello@whenisbins.com, saying what you will use it for and roughly how often. Use the token only for the use it was issued for.
  • Commercial use. If you are a commercial user, contact hello@whenisbins.com before you use the API, including through MCP.
  • Keep tokens secret. Do not put a token in a web address or in public browser code, and tell us straight away if one may have been exposed.
  • Stay within the allowances. When the API says to wait, wait for the time it gives before trying again. Do not switch networks, tokens or requests to get around a limit. For bulk use, talk to us first. A token gives you an allowance of your own, not guaranteed capacity.
  • Do not repeat work. Look an address up once, then read the saved schedule. Do not start a new lookup every time you need the dates.
  • Show answers honestly. Keep the council source link and the explanations that come with the dates, including whether dates are projected, partial or from a nearby property, and whether a service needs a subscription. Keep a provisional nearby-property answer labelled as provisional, and do not use it for reminders or calendars. Do not add dates, collection times, bin contents or bank holiday changes that the response does not give.
  • Look after personal data. A postcode and address together are personal data. Send someone’s details only with their permission, never put a full address in a web address, and do not keep lookup details in long-term logs without a clear need and a retention period. If you build a service on the API, you are responsible for the personal data of your own users under UK data protection law.
  • AI agents act with permission. An agent may use WhenIsBins only for the person it is acting for. Get that person’s permission before reporting a missed bin to a council or sharing their personal details with one. Never bypass a council’s access controls or CAPTCHA checks.

We may change the API or its allowances. We will update the guide when we do, and give notice where we reasonably can.

Calendar links and reminders

Anyone who has the web address of a property calendar can subscribe to it, so share calendar links with care. Every reminder email has a link to stop reminders.

Information from councils and other sources

Collection dates, bin descriptions and guidance come from councils and other public sources. Council websites, images and address data have their own terms for reuse, so check those at the source before you publish them elsewhere. Using WhenIsBins does not change who owns that material.

The WhenIsBins name, design, text and software belong to Public Digital Limited or the people who license them to us, except where a separate licence says otherwise. You may share the answers you get, with their source links.

Links to other websites

We link to council websites and other services, such as council forms for reporting a missed bin. Those websites have their own terms and privacy policies, and we are not responsible for them.

Availability and changes

We provide WhenIsBins free of charge. We try to keep it working, but it may sometimes be unavailable, and we may change, suspend or stop all or part of it. We cannot cover every council or every property.

Our responsibility to you

We take reasonable care to show the information councils publish accurately, but we cannot promise that every date is complete, correct or up to date.

Because WhenIsBins is free and depends on information published by councils, we are not responsible for loss caused by a council’s information being wrong or changing, or by information being unavailable. That includes a missed collection, a bin put out on the wrong day, or a charge or penalty from a council. If you use WhenIsBins for a business, we are not responsible for loss of profit, revenue or business opportunity.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that the law does not allow us to exclude or limit. Nothing in these terms affects your legal rights as a consumer. Citizens Advice can tell you more about those rights.

Your personal information

Our privacy page explains what information we collect, how we use it under UK data protection law, how long we keep it and how to ask us to delete it.

Restricting access

We may restrict or block access from a network or token, or withdraw a token, if we reasonably believe these terms have been broken or to protect the service and the people who use it. You can stop using WhenIsBins at any time.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top of this page shows when they last changed. If you hold an API token, we will try to email you about significant changes. Using WhenIsBins after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales can deal with any dispute. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring a claim in your local courts. If you have a problem, please contact us first so we can try to put it right.

If a court decides that part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies. These terms are between you and Public Digital Limited, and no one else has rights under them.

Contact

Email hello@whenisbins.com with any question about these terms. For help using the website, read Accessibility and help or Support.