Guide to Bins, Boxes & Collections

In East Herts we have black bins, blue lidded bins, brown bins and paper boxes. Read our guide to what goes in each bin and how and when they will be collected.

Bin Collections

East Herts Council has an alternate refuse and recycling collection service. This means your black wheeled bin is collected fortnightly on your waste week with your blue and brown bin being emptied on the alternate week.

For more information on your recycling, composting & refuse service, please see our latest 'Your recycling, composting & refuse service guide'

Please note the following;

Only items that cannot be composted or recycled should go into your black bin or sacks.
East Herts Council provides each household in the district with one black bin, one brown bin and one blue lidded bin.
Only waste contained within the wheeled bins will be collected.
For residents who have difficult access or no front or rear garden we operate a sack collection service. In these circumstances we also provide a green paper box and a blue recycling box which will be collected fortnightly on your recycling week. More boxes are available on request.
We offer a boundary collection service; this means your bin must be presented with the lid closed at the boundary of your property by 7am.
The boundary of your property is where the front of your property / garden meets the public highway (pavement or road).
Operatives will not step onto your property. Extra waste left at the side of the bins or placed on top of the bins will not be collected.
If you are not physically able to place your bins on the boundary you may qualify for an Assisted Bin Collection.
If you have a bin that is damaged or you have a bin missing, please request a new bin

Blue Lidded Bin

Guide to blue lidded bins (If you are viewing via mobile, please tilt horizontally to see all columns)
Yes Please	No thanks
Aerosol cans Aluminium foil Biscuit tins Butter tubs Cardboard (no sticky tape or labels) Cartons Cereal boxes Drink cans Egg cartons - cardboard Egg cartons - plastic Foil Food tins Fruit punnets Glass - bottles and jars Ice-cream containers Jars Kitchen roll tubes Margarine tubs Microwave meal trays Milk bottles - plastic Plastic bottles - put the lids in separately Plastic plant/flower pots Plastic sweet containers/tubs Plastic food trays Tetra Packs Tin Foil Toilet roll tubes Toothpaste tubes Washing powder boxes Yoghurt pots	Caddy liners without the seedling logo Cardboard with sticky tape/labels Carpet Cat Litter Household waste Plant post and planters Polystyrene Soft Plastics such as carrier bags Soil Turf

For further guidance, please see our Blue lidded bins page

Black Bin

Guide to Black bins (If you are viewing via mobile, please tilt horizontally to see all columns)
Yes Please	No thanks
Ash (once cooled) Black sacks Bubble wrap Carrier bags Cereal bags Cling film Crisp packets Drinking glasses Nappies Plastic bags - not widely recycled but often supermarkets offer recycling Plastic film/wrap Polystyrene - expanded/white - usually found in packaging Pyrex Tape - sticky parcel tape Wrapping paper	Batteries Bricks and Rubble Clothing* Duvets Electrical Items Unused Paint

These items and many others below can be recycled, often at Local Household Waste & Recycling Centres

*There are many clothes banks across the District, see our Clothes Recycling centres in East Herts page for more information

Inner Paper Box/Kerbside Box

Please only put the following items in the inner paper/ kerbside box

Brochures
Catalogues
Directories
Envelopes - white only (please remove plastic windows)
Junk mail
Magazines/ Newspapers
Shredded paper
Yellow Pages

Brown Bins

Kitchen caddies are small boxes that are useful for food waste. If you need one, please request one via our new or replacement bins page. These kitchen caddies can be wrapped in newspaper or compostable bags to keep the caddies clean. These are available via most good supermarkets or found online in stores such as Caddy Liner website. Only bags that have the seedling logo can be placed inside the brown bins

Waste & Recycling bins guide (If you are viewing via mobile, please tilt horizontally to see all columns)
Yes Please	No thanks
Bones Branches (no more than 6mm diameter) Bread Coffee grounds Dairy Egg shells Flowers Food scrapings Fruit Fruit peelings Grass cuttings Hay Hedge trimmings Leaves Leftover food Meat - raw or cooked Peelings Pet bedding - from vegetarian pets only and only paper, straw, hay Plants Straw Tea bags Tree cuttings(only small twigs and branches accepted) Vegetable peelings Weeds	Caddy liners without the seedling logo Cardboard Carpet Cat Litter Household waste Plant post and planters Polystyrene Soil Turf

For further information, please see our Brown bin collections page