Ealing Bin Collection 2026: Find Your Date, Correct Bin & Missed-Collection Deadline
Most Ealing houses have rubbish and recycling on alternating weeks, while food waste is collected every week. Subscribed garden waste is normally collected every two weeks. Flats, communal-bin properties and homes above shops can use a different collection arrangement.
Start with Ealing Council’s address checker, then use this guide for the 7am presentation rule, blue and black wheelie bins, food waste, white-tag problems, missed collections, garden subscriptions, assisted collections, bulky waste and Greenford Road reuse and recycling centre.
Ealing Bin Collection: Quick Answer
Use Ealing Council’s collection-day finder for your exact property. For most houses, blue recycling and black rubbish are collected on alternating weeks and the green food-waste container is collected every week.
Put wheelie bins and food waste at the front boundary of your property by 7am, close to the street or pavement but not blocking the pavement. Garden waste requires a separate paid subscription.
Jump to the Ealing bin task you need
- Check collection date
- Normal collection cycle
- 7am collection rules
- Blue & black bins
- Food waste
- Extra recycling
- White tag
- Missed bin
- Flats & communal bins
- Garden waste 2026/27
- Bins & extra capacity
- Assisted collection
- Bulky waste
- Community skips
- Greenford Road centre
- Holiday changes
- Official services
- FAQs
How to Check Your Ealing Bin Collection Day
Ealing does not have one date that applies across the whole borough. The official lookup uses the selected property to show the next rubbish, recycling and other applicable collection dates.
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Open Ealing Council’s collection-day finder.
Use the live council service rather than relying on an old calendar or remembered weekday. -
Enter your postcode.
Choose the exact address from the results. -
If you use communal bins, select the building or block correctly.
Ealing specifically asks communal-bin residents to select the block rather than an individual flat number where the lookup provides that option. -
Read the container and date together.
Blue recycling, black rubbish, food and subscribed garden waste do not all run on the same frequency. -
Recheck around Christmas and other service changes.
The ordinary lookup pattern should not be used to guess festive-period dates.
Ealing Rubbish, Recycling and Food-Waste Schedule
| Service | Normal frequency | Main container | Important exception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Household recycling | Every other week | Blue wheelie bin | Flats and some properties use sacks or communal bins. |
| Household rubbish | Every other week | Black wheelie bin | Communal-bin properties normally have a different service. |
| Food waste | Every week | Green food-waste bin | Flats can use communal food-waste facilities. |
| Garden waste | Every 2 weeks | Subscribed green bin or approved sacks | Paid service with a winter pause. |
Put Ealing Bins Out by 7am
Use the property boundary
Leave the scheduled container visibly at the edge of your property, close to the pavement or street but not on the pavement itself.
Black-bin lid closed
Household rubbish should be bagged inside the black bin. Extra rubbish left on top of or beside the bin is not part of the normal collection.
Recycling loose
Put accepted recycling loose in the blue bin rather than packing the contents into black refuse sacks.
Remember food waste
The small outdoor food-waste container is collected every week, including weeks when either the black or blue main bin is due.
What Goes in Ealing’s Blue and Black Bins?
Accepted household recycling
- Paper, envelopes and junk mail
- Newspapers and magazines
- Cardboard and thin card
- Plastic bottles
- Plastic pots, tubs and trays
- Metal tins and cans
- Empty aerosols
- Clean foil
- Food and drink cartons
- Glass bottles and jars
Residual household rubbish
Use the black bin for ordinary household material that cannot be recycled through Ealing’s household recycling, food-waste or other specialist recycling routes.
Keep recyclable bottles, jars, cans, paper, card and accepted hard-plastic packaging out of the black bin wherever practical.
Keep these out of the blue recycling bin
Soft plastics
Plastic carrier bags, bread bags, crisp packets and other thin films do not belong in Ealing’s blue household recycling bin.
Food or garden waste
Use the food-waste service and subscribed garden-waste service instead of contaminating mixed recycling.
Non-container glass
Do not treat drinking glasses, mirrors, crockery or heat-resistant cookware as ordinary bottle-and-jar glass.
Ealing Food Waste Is Collected Every Week
Food waste is a separate weekly household collection. Use the outdoor food-waste container for the collection rather than leaving the indoor kitchen caddy by itself.
Yes please
- Bread and pastries
- Dairy products
- Fish
- Eggshells
- Fruit and vegetable peelings
- Leftovers and plate scrapings
- Meat and bones
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
No thanks
- Plastic carrier bags
- Black sacks
- Cling film
- Packaging
- Liquids
- Nappies
- Pet litter
- Tissue and kitchen roll
You can line the food container with newspaper or a suitable compostable liner. Ealing Council does not supply compostable liners. Ordinary plastic bags should not be used as food-caddy liners.
Extra Recycling, Batteries and Textiles
Extra recycling
Ealing asks residents to use the blue bin first but can take suitable extra recycling presented neatly with the recycling collection.
Household batteries
Keep batteries separate from the contents of household bins. Current presentation guidance recommends putting suitable household batteries in a separate bag on top of the blue bin.
Textiles
Worn household textiles can use Ealing’s separate textile route. Where using kerbside textile recycling, present suitable items separately rather than placing them loose in the blue bin.
White Tag on Your Ealing Bin? Do Not Report It as Missed
A white tag means the collection crew has identified a problem. For recycling, common reasons include incorrect material, the bin not being properly presented or the crew being unable to access it.
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Read the reason shown on the tag.
It should help identify whether contamination, access or presentation caused the rejection. -
Remove the incorrect items.
Do not simply remove the tag while leaving the contamination inside. -
Remove the white tag.
Once the problem has been corrected, prepare the container for its next scheduled collection. -
Put it out by 7am next time.
The crew does not normally return to empty a correctly tagged bin as an ordinary missed collection.
Ealing Missed Bin: Exact Reporting Window
Household collections can take place between 7am and 5pm, so a bin should not be reported as missed simply because the vehicle normally arrives earlier.
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Confirm the collection was due.
Use the address checker rather than assuming the normal alternating week. -
Wait until after 5pm.
Different waste streams can also be collected at different times. -
Check for a white tag.
A tagged bin is not treated as an ordinary missed collection. -
Confirm it was at the boundary before 7am.
Late or inaccessible presentation can make the report ineligible. -
Report by 1pm the following day.
Use the online form while the report window is still open.
Ealing Flats, Estates, Red Routes and Communal Bins
Do not apply the ordinary house wheelie-bin pattern to every flat. Ealing uses several systems depending on the building, storage space and collection access.
Small blocks
Blocks of eight flats or fewer can use shared blue recycling wheelie bins where suitable.
Larger blocks
Blocks with eight or more flats or estates can use larger orange-lidded communal recycling bins.
Clear sacks
Red-route homes and flats with limited storage can use clear mixed-recycling sacks.
Green boxes
Some properties without suitable wheelie-bin storage use a green recycling box instead.
Flats above shops can use loose black rubbish sacks at an assigned collection point and clear recycling sacks. Ealing provides rolls of clear mixed-recycling sacks free of charge three times a year for households on that service.
Ealing Garden Waste Collection 2026/27
Garden waste is not part of the ordinary black-bin collection. Ealing’s paid service normally runs every two weeks, with a winter pause, and the 2026/27 service year runs from April 2026 to March 2027.
| Joining period | Standard price | Concession / second subscription | Collections |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026–March 2027 | £75 | £50 | 23 |
| July 2026–March 2027 | £52.17 | £34.78 | 16 |
| October 2026–March 2027 | £29.35 | £19.57 | 9 |
Concessionary rates are available for eligible households receiving means-tested benefits and for residents over 65. The council can ask for evidence of eligibility.
Container choices
240-litre green wheelie bin
A standard garden-waste container supplied as part of the subscribed service where suitable.
Reusable sacks
Three 90-litre reusable sacks are another service option, subject to current availability.
Compostable sacks
Compostable-sack options are also available within the service, subject to the current subscription arrangement.
What can go in garden waste?
- Grass cuttings
- Old garden or house plants
- Twigs
- Hedge trimmings
- Weeds and flowers
- Leaves
- No plastic pots, trays or bags
- No soil, rocks or stones
- No large branches
- No tree trunks, stumps or large logs
- No vegetable peelings or ordinary food waste
Garden waste should be at the front boundary by 7am on its scheduled day. The service pauses in December 2026 and resumes during February 2027; use the subscriber calendar for the exact pause and restart dates.
Ealing says the subscription sticker or tags can take around 5 to 10 working days to arrive. Requested garden containers are normally delivered within 10 working days after payment is received.
New, Replacement and Larger Ealing Bins
Ealing records the authorised containers assigned to each property. Extra rubbish bins are not automatically emptied unless they have been approved for the address.
Standard rubbish bin
Most households use a 180-litre black wheelie bin, which the council describes as holding roughly four ordinary rubbish bags.
Larger rubbish bin
A 360-litre container can be considered for qualifying larger households, medical needs or another accepted reason.
Recycling and food bins
Extra recycling bins and replacement food-waste bins can also be requested through Ealing’s container-ordering service.
Ealing aims to deliver ordinary bin or sack orders within 10 working days, although orders that require an eligibility check can take longer.
Assisted Bin Collections in Ealing
Residents who are not physically able to move rubbish or recycling containers because of disability, illness or a mobility problem can apply for an assisted collection where there is nobody else who can reasonably help.
Collection from the doorstep
For an eligible house, the crew can collect the containers from the agreed front-door location rather than requiring them at the usual property boundary.
Flats are different
Ealing does not offer the standard assisted-bin scheme from flats. Residents who need help in a flat should contact their landlord or building manager about the building arrangement.
Assisted-collection registrations last for two years, after which residents need to reapply if the help is still required.
Ealing Bulky Waste Collection: £30 for Up to Six Items
Ealing Council’s household bulky-waste service currently costs £30 for up to six items. The service is for large household items that will not fit in a standard wheelie bin.
Common accepted items
- Sofas
- Beds
- Wardrobes
- Washing machines
- Fridges or freezers, subject to the service limit
- Other suitable household furniture
Not part of the standard service
- Builders’ rubbish
- Bricks and concrete
- Asbestos
- Earth, sand and gravel
- Paint tins and oil
- Gas cylinders
- Tyres
- Batteries
Booking and collection-day rules
- Book and pay before putting the items out.
- List every item accurately in the booking.
- Items must be accessible at the front of the property.
- Put them out by 7am on the booked collection date.
- The council collects between 7am and 3pm.
- Do not leave booked items obstructing the pavement.
- The collection crew does not enter the home or rear garden.
Ealing Community Skips: Free Local Bulky-Item Events
Ealing’s community-skip pilot provides occasional local events where borough residents can bring certain unwanted household items free of charge.
Up to five bulky items
The current pilot allows an Ealing resident to bring up to five eligible bulky items at a participating event.
Reuse comes first
Good-quality items can be sent for reuse while poorer-condition accepted items can be recycled.
Proof may be requested
Bring suitable proof of identity and Ealing address because the service is restricted to borough residents.
Accepted categories can include electronics, household batteries, toys, books, clean clothing, bicycles, furniture, some white goods and mattresses. Limits apply to certain items.
Greenford Road Reuse and Recycling Centre
Ealing residents can use Greenford Road reuse and recycling centre for suitable household recycling, bulky material and general household waste. The centre is at Greenford Road, Greenford, Middlesex, UB6 9AP.
Current opening pattern
| Season | Open days | Hours | Last booking slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April–30 September | Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun | 8am–5pm | 4pm–4:30pm |
| 1 October–31 March | Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun | 8am–4pm | 3pm–3:30pm |
The site is also closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Booking is compulsory: residents arriving without a slot are not admitted.
Booking rules residents commonly miss
- Up to two booking slots per household per week.
- Slots are 30 minutes.
- Bookings can normally be made up to two weeks ahead.
- Bring photo ID and proof of Ealing residence.
- Cars, motorcycles and cyclists can use the booking system.
- Pedestrian visits are not permitted.
- Sort material before arriving so unloading is quicker.
Ealing Bank Holiday and Christmas Bin Collections
Do not automatically move a collection by one day when there is a bank holiday. Ealing’s address lookup and dated service notices should be used to confirm the actual temporary arrangement.
Check the exact property
The live collection finder is more reliable than applying a general holiday rule to every road.
Christmas needs a fresh check
The ordinary collection table does not itself account for festive changes, so recheck before the Christmas and New Year period.
Garden waste pauses
The 2026/27 subscribed garden service pauses in December 2026 and restarts during February 2027 according to the subscriber calendar.
Which Ealing Waste Service Should You Use?
Problem → best first action
Ealing Bin Collection Contact
Customer services
020 8825 6000
Use the council contact centre when an online waste service is unavailable or when you need help with a collection or subscription.
Published opening times
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9am–5pm
Wednesday: 10am–5pm
Useful information to have ready
- Full Ealing address and postcode
- Bin or service type
- Scheduled collection date
- Whether the container was out before 7am
- Whether a white tag was left
- Any existing case or booking reference
- Garden-waste case number where relevant
Official Ealing Rubbish and Recycling Services
BinCollectionGuide.org explains the process, but Ealing Council controls collection dates, missed-bin reports, subscriptions, container orders, bookings and eligibility decisions.
Open Ealing collection-day finder
Open Ealing bin-service guidance
Open household recycling guidance
Open food-waste guidance
Open container-order service
Open assisted-collection application
Open Greenford Road information
Ealing Bin Collection FAQs
How do I check my Ealing bin collection day?
Use Ealing Council’s collection-day finder, enter your postcode and select the exact property. The result shows the collection services assigned to that address.
How often are Ealing rubbish bins collected?
Most standard household black rubbish wheelie bins are collected every other week. Flats, properties above shops and communal-bin locations can have different arrangements.
How often is recycling collected in Ealing?
Most standard household blue recycling wheelie bins are collected every other week, alternating with black rubbish collections.
Is food waste collected every week in Ealing?
Yes. Ealing household food waste is normally collected weekly on the property’s scheduled collection day.
What time do Ealing bins need to be out?
Standard wheelie bins and food-waste containers should be visibly presented at the front boundary of the property by 7am on collection day.
When can I report a missed Ealing bin?
An eligible missed household collection can be reported after 5pm on the scheduled collection day and must be reported by 1pm the following day.
What does a white tag on my Ealing recycling bin mean?
It means the crew identified a problem such as contamination, incorrect presentation or access. Correct the problem and present the bin on the next scheduled collection rather than reporting the tagged bin as an ordinary missed collection.
How much is Ealing garden waste in 2026/27?
The full April 2026 to March 2027 service costs £75 for 23 collections. The concessionary and second-subscription rate is £50. Lower pro-rata prices apply to July and October joining periods.
How much is Ealing bulky waste collection?
The current household bulky-waste charge is £30 for up to six eligible items. Larger collections can require a separate quotation.
Do I need to book Greenford Road recycling centre?
Yes. Ealing residents must book a time slot before visiting Greenford Road reuse and recycling centre. Residents arriving without a booking are not admitted.
Can I walk into Greenford Road recycling centre?
No. The current council booking guidance does not allow pedestrian visits. Cars, motorcycles and cyclists are included in the booking arrangements.
Can Ealing help me move my bins?
Eligible residents who cannot physically present household bins because of disability, illness or mobility problems can apply for an assisted collection if nobody else can reasonably help them.
Ealing Bin-Day Checklist
- Check the exact address rather than relying on a borough-wide timetable.
- Confirm whether blue recycling or black rubbish is due.
- Remember the green food-waste container every week.
- Have normal household containers at the front boundary by 7am.
- Put accepted recycling loose in the blue bin.
- Keep soft plastics out of the blue bin.
- Do not leave extra black-bin rubbish beside the container.
- Check for a white tag before reporting a missed collection.
- Report a genuine miss after 5pm but no later than 1pm the next day.
- Use garden waste only through the paid subscribed service or another approved route.
- Book Greenford Road before travelling.
- Recheck live dates around Christmas and other service disruptions.
Independent guide: BinCollectionGuide.org is not Ealing Council and cannot access or change council collection records. Exact dates, live disruptions, subscriptions, bookings, payments and eligibility decisions should be confirmed or completed through Ealing Council.