CPS Homes

A guide to kerbside waste collection

Whether you live in a small flat or in a big house share, we’re sure you’ve faced the age old problem of waste collection. To help you keep your house waste and pest free, we’ve prepared a quick guide on waste collection for Cardiff.

When does my waste get collected?

At the time of writing this guide, the collection dates in Cathays are on Wednesdays and in Cardiff Bay they're on Fridays. Some parts of Roath are collected on Thursdays, whereas in others it will be on Fridays. Bin bags should be taken out no earlier than 4:30pm on the night before and no later than 6:00am on the collection day. It’s important to remember dates can change, particularly around bank holidays, so a good rule of thumb is to check with your neighbours or the Council’s website. You can even sign-up for their e-mail reminder system to avoid missing bin day!

Useful tip: keeping your bins tidy and managing your waste responsibly reduces not only the mess on the kerbside, but it will help keep pests away. We’ve all been woken up by at least one overly excited seagull on an early morning treasure hunt ripping through our bin bags! Check out our recycling guide for more information.

We’ve also compiled a summary of which items go in each waste type group and have included their collection frequency to help you manage your waste efficiently:

Recycling Waste

Your weekly collection day and the types of containers collected each week vary depending on your address in Cardiff. To check your specific collection schedule, visit Cardiff Council’s Check your collection dates service online or download the “Cardiff Gov” app.

All households in Cardiff should have recycling containers, but the type of containers you need depends on your location - this is all explained on the Cardiff Council website too.

Please place your recycling and general waste containers on the pavement by 6:00am on your collection day, or after 4:30pm the evening before.

[Image credit - Cardiffdigs.co.uk]
New Recycling Containers 500X500

Food Waste

Food waste is collected weekly and it goes into caddy liners and placed into the brown caddies. You can dispose of cooked or raw food this way, including fruit and vegetable peelings, left-overs, egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds.

Cardiff Council provides food waste bags/caddies free of charge. You can find your nearest collection point on the “Cardiff Gov” app or order them online for home delivery.
Food Waste

General Waste

General waste is collected fortnightly and is only for items that CANNOT be recycled. To find out what can and can’t go in your general waste, check the Recycling Toolkit or visit Cardiff Council’s A-Z of Recycling.

To check whether your property uses bins or bags for general waste collection, enter your postcode on the Cardiff Council website or download the “Cardiff Gov” app.

There’s a strict limit on how much general waste you can put out, so it’s important to recycle as much as you can.

Please don’t leave extra bags or other items beside your bin, as they won’t be collected and you could receive a fixed penalty notice and fine.
Closed Bin

Garden Waste

Cardiff Council now offers year-round, fortnightly garden waste collections, with a brief pause for two weeks over Christmas. We recommend checking online for collection dates.

Garden waste goes into reusable white sacks or green wheelie bins. You can dispose of weeds, grass cuttings, dead plants and leaves this way.
Garden Waste

Getting extra bags

If you find that you need an extra red or blue sack, you can collect these from your local stockist. You can locate your nearest stockist on the ‘Cardiff Gov’ app or by visiting our website here. If you need an extra blue caddy for glass bottles and jars, you can order one through the ‘Cardiff Gov’ app or by visiting their website here, and the Council will deliver it to your home.

Ordering bins

If your black wheelie bin is damaged or has gone missing (note: only properties with a forecourt have these) or you need a new brown food caddy, you can order them from the Council. There will be a charge for the black wheelie bin, but the food caddies are free.

What to do if your bins haven’t been collected

There are a few reasons why your bins might not get collected.

If your bins are not placed on the kerbside, they wouldn’t be taken away no matter how close to it they are. You’ll also need to make sure the bins aren’t over spilling - a good rule of thumb is that the lid needs to stay closed. If you’ve been a victim of a seagull attack and the bins have been ripped open, you’ll have to collect the rubbish, put it into a new bin bag and make sure it’s tied neatly and ready for collection.

Alternatively, it might be a case of a genuine human error and your bins might have been missed.

Whatever the reason, you can report missed collections via the Council website, but also make sure you’ve done everything on your end to avoid your bins not being collected.

Don’t forget you can be fined if you persistently dispose of items incorrectly.

The Cardiff Gov app can also be used to report missed collections.

What to do with bulky items that wouldn’t fit in your bins/cars

You can always drive to a recycling centre to get rid of items you’re unable to dispose of at the kerbside. There’s one on Bessemer Close in Leckwith and another on Lamby Way in Rumney. Don’t forget to check if you need to book an appointment before you go.

If the items you’re trying to dispose of are too big to fit in your bins, you can use the Council’s ‘bulky item’ collection service. Some items they charge for, but some they’ll collect for free. Either way, you’ll need to book the collection (6 items max) via the Council’s website and put everything out on the street no earlier than 6.30pm the day before collection. They even offer Christmas tree collections after the festive period!

Contamination stickers

If waste collectors find incorrect recyclable items in your red or blue sacks, or in your glass caddy, they will place a yellow contamination sticker on the container. This sticker will inform you that the waste has not been collected because it is contaminated with non-recyclable or incorrect items. You will need to remove the incorrect items before it can be collected again.
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