Leeds bin guide: sorting, holiday changes and missed collections

How do I check my bin collection in Leeds?

Need to check your bin collection in Leeds? Use the council’s “Check your bin day” service for your property. Check the container and date together. A nearby household’s arrangements are not confirmation for your address, particularly if you use bags or take part in a local collection trial.

This guide covers the Leeds City Council area in England. SettleUK is an independent guide, not a government site. The council sources were checked on 12 November 2026. We explain the published instructions but cannot change your collection record, submit a report or arrange a council booking.

Start with the official bin-day checker. If dates are missing or incorrect, the page links to a dedicated reporting form. It has a separate form for an address that is not displayed. Choose the issue matching what you see rather than reporting a missed collection.

The council also links to the Leeds Bins app for finding collection days and setting reminders. An app reminder or saved calendar is useful for planning, but check current council information before treating a holiday change or an unusual result as a confirmed collection arrangement.

What time should bins be ready?

The council’s missed-bin guidance says all bins must be out at 6.30am, when collections start. Check your collection date before putting them out. If you are preparing for an early start at work, a reminder can help you avoid leaving the container unavailable for the round.

The black-bin page says household waste must be inside the bin with the lid closed. Extra general-waste bags on top of or near the bin are not collected. Do not confuse that rule with Leeds’ separate permission for extra correctly sorted green-bin recycling.

Black bins containing hazardous, oversized or excessively heavy items will not be collected. The exclusions include batteries, gas bottles, motor vehicle parts, paint, rubble, bricks, soil, large branches and needles. Check the contents as well as whether the lid closes.

If your household receives a bag collection rather than a black bin, the published maximum is three bags per collection. That is a specific bag-service allowance, not permission for every wheeled-bin household to leave three extra bags alongside its bin.

What goes in the green recycling bin?

Leeds’ green-bin materials list includes glass, cans, paper, cardboard, cartons, foil and specified plastics. Make recycling clean and dry. Check the detailed list rather than importing another council’s rules: some materials accepted here are excluded from other cities’ household recycling.

The accepted list specifies plastic types 1, 2, 4 and 5. It also lists stretchy and tearable plastic bags and wrapping, film lids and some plastic pouches without a foil lining. A pouch with a foil lining is excluded, so check its construction rather than relying only on its shape.

Food waste, syringes, needles, wood and timber must not go in the green bin. If a material is not clearly covered, consult the council’s linked A to Z disposal guidance. Adding a doubtful object to recycling is not a reliable way to resolve uncertainty.

Leeds says extra recycling can be left in a clear or green plastic bag beside the green bin on collection day. You can also consider requesting an extra green bin. This permission concerns recycling and does not remove the black-bin prohibition on extra general-waste bags.

What belongs in an ordinary brown garden bin?

The ordinary brown-bin list accepts flowers, plants, grass cuttings, hedge clippings, leaves, windfall fruit, twigs and small branches no more than 3cm thick. Put garden waste in loose. Plastic bags are not allowed, including compostable or biodegradable plastic.

Food waste, including fruit and vegetable peelings, is excluded from the ordinary garden-bin service. The list also excludes soil, compost, rubble, pet waste, bedding and cat litter. Do not use the brown bin as a general outdoor-rubbish container simply because the material came from your garden.

The council names Giant hogweed, Himalayan Balsam, Japanese knotweed and ragwort as exclusions. Check the council’s disposal guidance for excluded plants instead of adding them to the garden collection. Ask for advice before moving plants that need special disposal.

If the brown bin is too heavy to lift safely without damage, it will not be collected. The council asks residents to lighten it before the next collection day. Review the contents before reporting a miss; excessive weight can be a published reason for non-collection.

These ordinary rules have an important local exception: selected households in the Wetherby-area food-and-garden trial receive different instructions. Do not put food in an ordinary garden bin unless your household has been included in that trial and told how the combined service works.

Who can use the combined food-and-garden trial?

Leeds is trialling combined garden and food-waste collection for selected households in the Wetherby area during 2026. The council names Wetherby, Collingham, Boston Spa, Thorp Arch, Clifford, Bramham and Walton. Not every property in those places is automatically included.

Included households receive a food caddy, instructions and a letter giving the start date. Once their service begins, food can go into the brown wheelie bin with garden waste. The trial’s brown-bin collections continue fortnightly throughout the year, according to the council page.

Accepted trial food includes cooked and uncooked leftovers, peelings, meat and fish bones, eggshells, bread, rice, pasta, tea bags and coffee grounds. Keep packaging and liquids such as milk and oil out. Follow the trial letter rather than the ordinary brown-bin food exclusion.

The council provides an initial roll of compostable liners and specifies EN13432-certified liners suitable for the supplied caddy when buying replacements. You may also use the caddy without liners and empty food loose. Ordinary plastic bags are not the trial’s permitted substitute.

The council describes a city-wide weekly food-waste collection as an aim for 2029/30, likely introduced in stages. That is not a statement that every Leeds household has a weekly food service now. Use the trial guidance to check the current position.

When can I report a missed Leeds bin?

If the bin was missed today, wait until after 5pm before reporting it. Confirm that it was out at 6.30am and was due for collection. Use the council’s missed-bin page and follow its reporting link.

Leeds asks residents to use the form each time a bin is missed so the council knows about the incident and can investigate. Do not assume that an older report automatically records a new missed collection. Keep the address, container and scheduled date clear when reporting.

The council page does not give a general reporting deadline or promise a return within a set time. Report promptly once the window opens, and read the live form for any further instructions.

If the issue concerns a collection crew member, the page provides a separate crew-issue form. For damage caused by a collection vehicle or crew, it directs residents first to the public-liability claim route. A missed-bin form is not the same as a damage claim.

Are Christmas 2026/27 or bank-holiday changes confirmed?

No ordinary Christmas 2026/27 replacement collection dates are published in this guide. The fetched pages do not establish a dated festive bin schedule. Check your address in the live council service and read current notices before changing the day on which you present a container.

A national bank-holiday calendar does not establish the council’s operational timetable. Do not calculate “one day later” or assume normal collections without a Leeds notice. The same caution applies when comparing an old household calendar with a current address result.

Recycling-centre closures are separate from bin-round changes. Kirkstall’s page lists Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day closures. That does not establish when a missed household bin will be emptied or when garden collections stop or restart at your address.

How do furniture and appliance collections work?

Leeds’ unwanted-items service is for private residents in its council tax area, not landlords or businesses. Each household gets one free collection per financial year, April to March. Further collections normally cost £30 each, with a maximum of four collections per year.

The limit is five items per collection. Furniture must be dismantled, and each dismantled part counts separately. The council’s bed example counts the frame, slats, mattress and headboard as four items. Count the actual parts before assuming an entire bed uses only one place.

Households receiving council tax support can receive up to four free collections yearly and need their council tax account number when booking. Other qualifying council tax-exempt households may also be eligible. Read the precise conditions instead of assuming every benefit or discount qualifies.

Leave booked items outdoors within your property boundary before 7am, dry, safely prepared and accessible. Crews do not collect from inside homes, garages, outhouses or communal areas. This presentation time is for bulky items and differs from the 6.30am ordinary-bin instruction.

Use the official unwanted-items booking page. Keep the reference. Changes are allowed up to seven working days before collection, while cancellation is allowed up to 48 hours before. If a booked collection is missed, follow that service’s separate 48-hour waiting instruction.

Where can I take extra waste and recycling?

The council lists household recycling centres at Kirkstall, Meanwood, Middleton, Otley, Pudsey, Seacroft, Wetherby and Yeadon. Use its recycling-site directory to choose a location and open the individual site’s details. Do not assume every centre accepts every load under identical conditions.

Centres are for eligible Leeds residents disposing of household waste. The council describes access by car or bicycle and commercial-vehicle permits for large vehicles, vans or trailers. Waste created by tradespeople, businesses or work on a property you rent out belongs in the separate commercial route.

Kirkstall is at Evanston Avenue, LS4 2HR. Its published winter hours are 8am to 4pm from 26 October 2026 to 28 March 2027, with last entry 15 minutes before closing. Check the live site page before travelling, including its listed festive closures.

The Kirkstall page says pedestrians cannot enter the working recycling site. The reuse shop has a separate pedestrian gate, which does not create walking access to the disposal area. Keep those services distinct when planning a visit without a car.

Plan to unload safely. The general directory says staff cannot help dispose of waste, while Kirkstall describes assistance where safe and requested. Do not rely on a guaranteed lifting service; the site advises bringing someone if you need help with heavier items. Ask the council about accessibility before travelling.

What other routes are useful during a clear-out?

The council recommends donating reusable items before booking disposal. Its unwanted-items guide lists organisations and their accepted items. Sofas, chairs and beds need fire-safety labels. Confirm the actual condition and collection arrangement with the organisation rather than assuming all donations are accepted.

Recycling banks provide another route for listed materials such as glass, clothing, paper and small electrical items. Use the map linked from the council’s recycling-site directory. A bank accepting one category does not mean it accepts furniture or bags of unsorted household waste.

If paying a private waste collector, Leeds advises checking the waste-carrier licence, paying by card or bank transfer, obtaining a receipt or waste-transfer note and asking where the waste goes. Its accredited waste-carrier scheme is another route to investigate before handing items over.

For replacement bins or help putting containers out, start from the council’s bins-and-recycling hub. Check the live council service for replacement charges and the arrangement relevant to your household. Have your address and the type of container ready when checking the available options.

SettleUK is an independent guide. It is not a government website and is not affiliated with GOV.UK, DWP, HMRC or the NHS.