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Grey bin

Photo of a grey wheeled bin

We provide households with one 240-litre grey bin. We collect this bin fortnightly.  Please leave your bin on the boundary of your property by 6.45am on collection day.

If you do not have a grey bin, you can request one using our online form. 

Request a grey bin

What we collect

The grey bin is for household waste that cannot be recycled.

Before putting items in your grey bin, please check to see if they can be reused, recycled or given away. Our top tips to go green page has help and advice on reducing waste.

What we don't collect

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. If you are unsure what to do with a particular item, please email recycle@dacorum.gov.uk.

Expand all

  • No garden waste

    You must recycle garden waste in your green-lidded bin. To have your garden waste collected, you need to subscribe to our Garden Waste Subscription Service. If you decide not to sign up to the paid service, there are many ways you can still recycle your garden waste. You can compost it in a home composting bin or take it to your local recycling centre.

  • No recyclable materials
    Recyclable materials should be put into your blue-lidded bin, recycled at neighbourhood collection points or taken to your nearest Recycling Centre.
  • No food waste

    All food waste should either go into your food waste caddies or into a home composting system.

    If you put food waste into your grey bin, it would break down in landfill creating methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.

  • No clothes or textiles

    If you can't repair, reuse or wear your items again, you can recycle them at a neighbourhood textile recycling bank. Your items can become anything from a carpet or mattress, to sofa stuffing or wiper rags.

    Textile recycling banks are only for flat textiles, such as clothes, curtains, duvet covers and pillow cases. You will need to take stuffed textiles, such as cushions, duvets and pillows, to a recycling centre.

    Visit our clothes and textiles page for more information. 

  • No electricals

    If electricals are in working condition they can be donated to a local charity or community group. Non-working electrical items can be recycled at your nearest neighbourhood recycling point (depending on their size) or at a Recycling Centre.

    If you put electricals into your grey bin, toxic chemicals such as mercury and lead can leak into the soil and water surrounding the landfill site and harm people and wildlife living nearby.

  • No DIY waste

    The grey bin should not be used for DIY waste (such as paint, rubble and other heavy objects). Instead, this should be taken to your nearest Recycling Centre.

    Hertfordshire County Council offers further information and advice on what to do with DIY waste.

  • No Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

    POPs are poisonous chemical substances that break down slowly and may get into food chains as a result. Items containing POPs now need to be collected separately from other household items and cannot be placed in your grey bin.

    The following items of upholstered domestic seating are classed as containing POPs:

    • Sofas
    • Sofa beds
    • Armchairs
    • Kitchen and dining room chairs
    • Stools and foot stools
    • Home office chairs
    • Futons
    • Bean bags, floor and sofa cushions

    This includes any part made of/or containing leather, synthetic leather, other fabric, or foam.

    POPs can either be taken to a recycling centre or, if you have large items that you need to dispose of, you can book a bulky items collection.

Excess waste

We will not collect any rubbish that is not in your bin. This includes bags left on top of the bin or that raise the lid to a point that it is unsafe to move/lift. We will empty your bin and leave any excess bags inside. If your bin is too heavy, we will not empty it. Our crews will leave an advisory note if there's excess waste of if the bin was too heavy.

If you regularly overfill your grey bin, make sure you are reusing and recycling everything you can. Take a look at the blue-lidded bin and food waste caddies pages to find out about all the items you can recycle.

If you have excess waste, you can take it to a recycling centre.

If you have large items, check out our bulky waste collection scheme. 

Swap your bin size

Each 240-litre bin should have enough space to last a household two weeks, provided that you are using the recycling facilities available.

A standard 240-litre bin should last a household two weeks, provided you are recycling all you can. If the bin is too big, you can swap it for a smaller 140-litre one.

To qualify for a larger 360-litre grey bin your household must have six or more full-time residents, or five full-time residents where at least one infant is in nappies. You cannot apply for a large grey bin unless you have been using a 360-litre blue-lidded bin for at least three months.

You might find our reusable nappy scheme and reusables pages helpful for reducing waste.

Request a different size grey bin

Missed collections

If you put your bin out for collection on the correct day and we missed it, you can report it online. Please do this within 48 hours of your scheduled collection day.

Report a missed bin collection

Page Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 September 2024 at 10:37 AM