What Bins Do I Put Out and When?

Question

What bins do I put out and when?

AskMyCouncil · Accepted Answer

Edinburgh has different bins depending on whether you have individual kerbside collections or communal bins. Here’s the quickest guide to what goes where, plus when to put them out.
Individual kerbside collections
Bin What goes in it Put it out when Green wheelie bin Paper, unwanted mail, cardboard, drinks cartons, clean plastic bottles with tops, pots/tubs/trays, clean cans, tins, foil, empty aerosols, envelopes By 6am on your collection day Recycling box Glass bottles and jars; small electrical items; household batteries in a clear bag; clothing, towels, clean sheets and pairs of shoes in a plastic bag By 6am on your collection day Grey food bin / grey kitchen caddy Cooked and uncooked food, including beans, pasta, rice, bread, cakes, dairy, eggs, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, fast food, tea bags and coffee grounds By 6am on your collection day Brown wheelie bin Flowers, plants and weeds, grass cuttings and leaves, hedge clippings, twigs and small branches By 6am on your collection day Communal bins
Bin What goes in it Shared packaging bin Clean plastic bottles with tops, pots/tubs/trays, clean cans and tins, drink cartons, empty aerosols, foil Blue-lidded paper bin Newspapers and magazines, envelopes and unwanted mail, wrapping paper, non-metallic printed paper, shredded paper, other white paper Purple-lidded glass bin Clean glass bottles and jars, all colours Grey-lidded food bin Cooked and uncooked food, including pasta, rice, bread, fruit, vegetables, meat, bones, eggs, tea bags and coffee grounds Black-lidded non-recyclable bin Only items you can’t recycle For individual collections, Edinburgh says to put your bin on the kerbside by 6am and bring it back in as soon as possible after collection. For communal bins, the service says bins are emptied on a frequency that keeps them from overfilling, but no fixed day is given in the available information.
If you want the exact set-up for your address, the council’s recycling pages are the place to check your local collection details.

Bin	What goes in it	Put it out when
Green wheelie bin	Paper, unwanted mail, cardboard, drinks cartons, clean plastic bottles with tops, pots/tubs/trays, clean cans, tins, foil, empty aerosols, envelopes	By 6am on your collection day
Recycling box	Glass bottles and jars; small electrical items; household batteries in a clear bag; clothing, towels, clean sheets and pairs of shoes in a plastic bag	By 6am on your collection day
Grey food bin / grey kitchen caddy	Cooked and uncooked food, including beans, pasta, rice, bread, cakes, dairy, eggs, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, fast food, tea bags and coffee grounds	By 6am on your collection day
Brown wheelie bin	Flowers, plants and weeds, grass cuttings and leaves, hedge clippings, twigs and small branches	By 6am on your collection day

Bin	What goes in it
Shared packaging bin	Clean plastic bottles with tops, pots/tubs/trays, clean cans and tins, drink cartons, empty aerosols, foil
Blue-lidded paper bin	Newspapers and magazines, envelopes and unwanted mail, wrapping paper, non-metallic printed paper, shredded paper, other white paper
Purple-lidded glass bin	Clean glass bottles and jars, all colours
Grey-lidded food bin	Cooked and uncooked food, including pasta, rice, bread, fruit, vegetables, meat, bones, eggs, tea bags and coffee grounds
Black-lidded non-recyclable bin	Only items you can’t recycle