Report a missed bin, box or caddy collection

When you can report a missed collection

If your rubbish, recycling, garden waste or your food waste caddy hasn't been collected, check the status of your collection before you report it.

If the status of your collection is ‘completed’

If the status of your collection is ‘completed’ but a collection has not been made, you can report a missed collection, and we will investigate this.   

If your collection status has not been marked as ‘complete’

If your collection status has not been marked as ‘complete’, you do not need to report a missed collection as we will already be aware a collection hasn’t taken place.  

Catch-up collections

Where possible, if we have missed your collection, we will try to arrange a catch-up collection within 48 or 72 hours of your scheduled collection day, depending on the waste type.

When we'll try to catch up with a missed collection

Refuse

Within 48 hours of your scheduled collection day.

Food

Within 48 hours of your scheduled collection day.

Recycling

Within 72 hours of your scheduled collection day.

Garden

Within 72 hours of your scheduled collection day.

If we cannot schedule a catch-up collection

On some occasions, due to operational reasons, we may not be able to do this, and your next collection will be on your next scheduled collection day. If we have not collected your bin within the above timeframe, retrieve your bin and place it back within the boundary of your property until the night before your next scheduled collection. 

Sometimes we cannot collect from properties across the city. Typically, this impacts under 1% of properties each week.

Why we miss collections

We miss collections because:

• our vehicle may have been unable to gain access to your property (for example roadworks or other parking obstructions)
• of operational reasons - sometimes, at short notice, our crews or vehicle are not available on the day and we run out of our limited spare capacity on the day
• bins contain contaminated materials and we need to reject the collection (please ensure your bins are presented with the correct materials so that they are not rejected). Find out more about what we can and cannot collect in each bin.
• as demand changes, our rounds sometimes become too large for a crew to collect and we need to reallocate the work onto other rounds
• we may encounter delays earlier in the round such as waiting to tip a full load of recycling or waste materials

Report a missed collection

Use this form to report a missed collection of:

• rubbish
• recycling
• garden waste
• food waste

What happens next after you report a missed collection to us

Your report will be passed to our operations team. 

When we receive a report of a missed collection, our Operations Team will assess whether they can try to arrange a follow up collection, either later that same day or within the timeframes outlined above. We always aim to do this for our communal collection points. If we cannot arrange a follow-up collection, your collection will need to wait until your next scheduled collection day. This is most likely the case for wheelie bin collections. 

Usually, a missed collection is an isolated event. In a small number of cases, where significant adjustments to rounds need to take place, it can take a few weeks for collections to return to an acceptable standard.

What we are doing to improve the service in the future

Our teams continue to work hard to improve the collection service, we are doing this by:

• introducing new customer contact systems later in 2025 which will offer a more precise and personalised service
• replacing our oldest and most unreliable vehicles and ensuring collections are continually shared appropriately across our crews
• reviewing our rounds on an ongoing basis to ensure they have time to carry out all planned collections.

We expect these changes will continue to improve the service over the coming months. The information you have provided is valuable and helping us improve the service we provide.