Editorial Policy

1. Our Editorial Mission

UK bin collection is administered by hundreds of separate local authorities, each with its own collection schedule, recycling rules, charges, contractor, and seasonal calendar. The information is public — but it’s spread across hundreds of council websites, in inconsistent formats, often buried under several clicks.

Our editorial mission is to consolidate that information into one consistent format, in plain English, kept up to date, and always linked back to the council’s own page so readers can verify and act. We are not a substitute for the council; we are an editorial layer on top of council information that makes it easier to find and use.

2. Quality Standards Every Council Page Meets

Every page about a specific council follows the same quality checklist before it publishes:

• The council name matches GOV.UK’s official authority list, including any recent reorganisations
• The collection schedule reflects information from the council’s own current page (with a link)
• Bin colour and material rules are taken from the council’s own waste & recycling pages
• Charges (garden waste subscription, bulky waste, replacement bins, HWRC permits) match the figure on the council’s page on the date of last review
• The council’s bin-day postcode lookup, missed-collection report form, and contact pages are linked directly
• Bank holiday and Christmas calendars are sourced from the council’s own seasonal page where one exists
• Plain language is used throughout; jargon (HWRC, EfW, MRF) is explained on first use
• Every external link is checked to be live and pointing to the right page at publication
• The “Last reviewed” date is set on every page

3. Source Hierarchy

Not all sources are equal. We rank them and start at the top:

The full hierarchy with named sources, URLs, and how each is used is documented on the Sources & Methodology page.

4. Verification — Our Seven-Step Process

Every fact on a council page goes through this checklist before publication:

1. Identify the right council page. Use the council’s main waste & recycling page as the entry point — not a generic “council services” landing page that may be out of date.
2. Confirm the authority’s current name. UK reorganisations are frequent; we check against GOV.UK’s authority list to make sure we’re writing about the council that exists now, not a predecessor.
3. Read the source page in full. Quick scans miss exceptions. We read the actual council page, including any “Important” or “Update” notices.
4. Check schedule examples. Where the council provides example postcodes or street examples, we use those to confirm we’ve understood the schedule correctly.
5. Cross-check charges and dates. Garden waste prices and bulky waste charges are checked against any “Pay for X” or “Book a collection” page where the actual figure appears at the point of payment.
6. Verify external links. Every link to a council page, GOV.UK, or other external source is clicked and confirmed.
7. Editor sign-off. A second editor reviews the page before it goes live. Solo-authored pages are not published.

5. Update Cycles

UK waste services change throughout the year. Our update cycle is calibrated to that reality:

Every page carries a “Last reviewed” date. If you find a page where the date is more than three months old, please let us know — we’ll prioritise it.

6. Corrections Process

We treat corrections as a priority queue. The process:

1. You report it. Email info@bincollectionguide.org with subject “Correction” and the page URL.
2. We acknowledge. A first response within seven working days confirms we’ve received the report and are investigating.
3. We verify. An editor goes back to the council’s own page and confirms the current position.
4. We correct. If the correction is confirmed, the page is updated. Substantive corrections — wrong day, wrong charge, wrong contact details — trigger a published correction note dated and described in plain English.
5. We tell you. The reporter is notified that the correction is live, with a link to the updated page.

7. AI Tools and Authorship

We use AI tools as part of our content production workflow. We do not hide that, and we do not use AI as a substitute for human editorial judgement. Specifically:

• AI tools may be used for first drafts, summarisation of council pages, formatting consistency, and language polish
• Every council page is reviewed line by line by a human editor before publication
• Schedules, charges, dates, postcodes, contact numbers, and link destinations are confirmed against the council’s own page by a human — never trusted to an AI summary alone
• AI-generated text that turns out to misstate a council’s policy is corrected through the standard corrections process
• We do not allow AI tools to invent council contact details, fabricate links, or describe procedures that aren’t in the source

This approach is in line with the principle that AI is a productivity tool for our team, not the editorial author of record.

8. Editorial Independence

We do not take payment from any council in exchange for editorial coverage or favourable presentation. We do not take payment from waste contractors, clearance companies, or skip-hire firms in exchange for being mentioned, recommended, or omitted. The site is funded by display advertising on the principle that the advertising and the editorial are separate functions.

If a UK local authority asked us to remove a factual statement that they didn’t like — for example, a description of a recent service change — we would only do so if the statement was inaccurate, and our test for accuracy is the council’s own published information. We do not edit content to please any external party.

9. Advertising and Disclosure

Advertising on the site is clearly labelled. We follow the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code expectations on identification of advertising:

• Display advertisements are visually distinct from editorial content and labelled where required
• Affiliate links — where we earn a commission for a referral — are disclosed in context
• Sponsored content, if it ever appears, would be clearly identified as paid-for
• We do not insert affiliate links into council editorial content; the official council link always comes first

The CAP Code is available at asa.org.uk. The IPSO Editors’ Code of Practice, which we draw on as a reference for journalism standards, is at ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice.

10. Conflicts of Interest

We disclose conflicts of interest where they exist. To our knowledge, the editorial team:

• Is not employed by, contracted to, or financially connected to any UK local authority
• Is not employed by, contracted to, or financially connected to any UK waste contractor or clearance firm
• Has no shareholding in publicly traded waste-management companies that would create a material conflict
• Receives no gifts, hospitality, or considerations from councils or waste contractors in exchange for coverage

If a future situation creates a potential conflict — for example, a contributor with prior employment at a council or contractor — that contributor will not be assigned to write or edit pages relating to that organisation, and the connection will be disclosed.

11. Sensitive Topics

Some bin and waste topics intersect with sensitive issues — fly-tipping fines, neighbour disputes about contaminated recycling, hardship around chargeable services, accessibility for disabled or elderly residents, or compliance for landlords. We try to handle these fairly:

• Where a council offers an assisted collection service for residents who can’t put bins out themselves due to age, disability, or illness, we link to the application route and explain the eligibility plainly
• Where a council offers council-tax-reduction or low-income-related discounts on garden waste subscriptions, we say so and link to the application page
• We do not present fixed-penalty enforcement as the only or default response to non-compliance — we describe how to challenge a notice where that’s available
• We avoid framing waste behaviour in moralising language; the goal is practical guidance, not lecturing

12. Reader Feedback

We treat reader feedback as a quality input, not a marketing channel. Feedback is read by a human editor, and substantive feedback — corrections, suggestions for additions, reports of broken links or out-of-date pages — is logged and addressed within seven working days.

Feedback that is abusive, threatening, or harassing toward our team or toward other readers is not engaged with and may be reported under our Terms of Service or to relevant authorities where appropriate.

13. Language, Tone, and Accessibility

Council pages are written in plain English at a level intended to be accessible to a general adult audience without specialist knowledge. We:

• Spell out acronyms (HWRC, MRF, EfW, RDF) on first use in any page
• Use the council’s own bin-colour terminology and translate where necessary (a “blue bin” in one council is a “green bin” in another)
• Avoid sector jargon and consultant-speak where possible
• Use UK English spelling and conventions (£, postcode, fortnightly) consistently across the site
• Follow our Accessibility Statement, including WCAG 2.1 AA targets, in the way pages are structured for screen-reader and keyboard users