Sources & Methodology

1. Why Methodology Matters

Bin and recycling information is operational. People act on it — they put bins out on a particular day, sort waste into a particular bin, drive to a particular recycling centre at a particular time. Wrong information costs people contaminated bins, missed collections, fixed penalty notices, and wasted journeys. It also corrodes trust in the publications people rely on.

Our response is to be open about how we know what we publish. Every claim on a council page should be traceable. Where claims rest on judgement (for example, “garden waste subscriptions usually open in January or February”), we say so. Where claims rest on a specific source, that source should be findable. This page is the master document for how that works.

2. The Six-Tier Source Hierarchy

Not all sources are equal. We rank them by proximity to the operational truth — how close they are to the council’s own decision about its own waste service:

The rule is: when sources at different tiers disagree, we go with the higher tier. When two sources at the same tier disagree, we resolve the conflict by going one tier higher or by contacting the council directly.

3. Tier 1 — Council Websites

The single most important source for any council page is the council’s own website — usually a .gov.uk address. We use Tier 1 for everything that is council-specific:

• Bin collection schedules and postcode lookup tools
• Bin colour and material rules (what goes in which bin)
• Garden waste subscription prices, sign-up windows, and payment portals
• Bulky waste booking, current per-collection charges, items not accepted
• Replacement bin requests, charges, lead times
• Recycling centre / HWRC opening hours, booking systems, and vehicle restrictions
• Bank holiday and Christmas collection calendars
• Missed bin reporting and the council’s promise on rebooking
• Assisted collection eligibility and application routes
• Council contact details — phone, email, web form, web chat

4. Tier 2 — GOV.UK Central Pages

For anything cross-council or national, GOV.UK is the canonical reference. We use Tier 2 sources including:

• gov.uk/find-local-council — the authoritative postcode-to-council lookup
• gov.uk/recycling-collections — national signposting on recycling and waste collection
• gov.uk/council-tax-bands — for context on how council services are funded
• gov.uk/report-flytipping — fly-tipping reporting routes
• GOV.UK guidance on hazardous and special waste streams (asbestos, clinical waste, batteries, electricals)

GOV.UK is maintained by the Government Digital Service and reflects central government’s current position. Where GOV.UK and a council’s site appear to diverge — which is rare — the council’s site usually reflects the most current local position and we treat it as primary for that area.

5. Tier 3 — UK Waste Authorities and Recognised Programmes

Specialist UK bodies sit above sector commentary and below the councils themselves:

6. Tier 4 — UK Statute and Regulations

Underlying law sits below current operational facts but defines the framework everything else operates within. We refer to the following where relevant:

• Environmental Protection Act 1990 — particularly section 46 on the duty of householders to use the receptacles the council specifies, and the wider Part II framework on waste collection and disposal authorities
• Environment Act 2021 — the post-2021 statutory direction on waste, including the path to consistent collections and extended producer responsibility
• Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 — the classifications under which household, industrial, and commercial waste are distinguished
• Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 — the Scotland equivalent
• The Litter Act 1983 — for litter and fly-tipping context

We refer to statute for context, not as a source of current operational facts. We do not interpret the law for readers and we do not provide legal advice; the Disclaimer page sets that out.

7. Tier 5 — Sector Bodies (LGA and CIWM)

• Local Government Association (LGA) — local.gov.uk — for cross-council comparative data, sector consultations, and policy positions taken by councils collectively
• Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) — ciwm.co.uk — for terminology, sector-wide trends, and qualified-practitioner perspectives

These bodies are useful for context. We do not treat their press releases or position papers as a source of current operational facts about a specific council.

8. Tier 6 — Trade Press and Academic Research

Specialist trade press (for example, recycling-industry publications) and academic research provide context — never the sole source for a current schedule or charge. Where we cite a study or news article, we cite the underlying source so readers can read it for themselves rather than relying on our summary.

9. URL Verification — How Every External Link Is Checked

Every external link we publish goes through the same seven-step process before publication:

1. Manual click-through. No automated link-checker is treated as final. An editor opens the link in a browser before publication.
2. Domain check. The link should be on the council’s own domain (.gov.uk for most authorities) or on a recognised UK source. Suspicious or unfamiliar domains are queried.
3. Content check. The page that loads must actually be the page we are pointing readers to. Generic homepages and “page not found” results are rejected.
4. HTTPS check. All external links should be served over HTTPS. Where a council still serves a particular page over HTTP, we flag it and use the secure version where one exists.
5. Quarterly re-verification. Every external link is rechecked at least quarterly. Council restructures, site rebuilds, and URL changes routinely break old links — quarterly review keeps drift under control.
6. Reader-reported issues. Reports of broken links from readers are prioritised and addressed within seven working days.
7. No Google fallback. If a council’s specific page cannot be located, we do not publish a Google search URL as a “good enough” link — we either find the canonical page or remove the broken reference.

10. Fact-Checking Workflow

For every claim of fact on a council page, an editor:

• Identifies the highest-tier source that supports the claim
• Records the source and the date the source was last seen confirming the claim
• Reads the source page in full — quick scans miss exceptions, “from” dates, and caveats
• Cross-checks against a second source where available (the two-source rule below)
• Writes the claim in plain English, not in the council’s own marketing or legalese
• Flags any aspect of the claim that turned out to be unclear or conflicting in the source for editor review

11. The Two-Source Rule

Wherever practical, factual claims should be cross-checked against two independent sources. For council schedules this typically means:

• The council’s bin-day postcode lookup tool
• A static schedule document or page on the same council’s site (most councils publish both — they should agree)

For garden waste prices it means the council’s information page and the council’s actual payment portal at the point of checkout. The price displayed at checkout is the binding number.

For bank holiday calendars it means the council’s published seasonal calendar and any direct notice (newsletter, social media post) the council has issued.

If two sources disagree, we go to the operational source — the one a resident would actually act on (the postcode lookup, the payment portal, the printed letter from the council). If we still cannot resolve the conflict we contact the council directly.

12. Update Cycles

UK waste services do not stand still. Our update cycle reflects that:

Each council page carries a “Last reviewed” date so readers can see how current the information is.

13. Citation Standards

We cite sources by linking. Where a claim depends on a specific source, we link the source from the claim itself. Where a claim is broadly drawn from an authoritative body, we name the body and link its homepage. We avoid:

• Footnote dumps that don’t connect specific claims to specific sources
• “According to recent research” without naming the research
• Linking to summaries of source documents when the source document itself is freely available
• Linking to paywalled trade press where a free authoritative source covers the same point

14. What We Do Not Use as Sources

• Paid waste-services marketing pages. Skip-hire, house-clearance, and waste-collection businesses are advertisers and operators, not authoritative sources for council policy.
• Anonymous blogs and social-media threads. Useful as tip-offs that something has changed; not authoritative on their own.
• Wikipedia as a sole source. Useful as a starting point and for finding primary sources; not cited as the authority for a current operational fact.
• AI-generated content from other sites. The provenance is unclear and the content can have hallucinated facts. We do not cite AI-summarised articles as a source.
• Archived (Wayback Machine) pages in place of a current source. Archives are useful for showing that something used to be true — not for current facts.
• Press releases without verification. Press releases are useful prompts but go through the same Tier-1 verification before becoming a fact on a page.

15. Reader Contributions

Readers tell us when a schedule has changed, when a charge has gone up, when a recycling centre has changed its booking rules, and when an external link has broken. Reader reports are an important part of how we keep up with change across hundreds of councils. Every report is logged, verified against the council’s own source, and acted on within seven working days.

The corrections process and what to expect after submitting one is documented on the Editorial Policy page.

16. Audit Trail Openness

Journalists, researchers, councils themselves, and other interested readers sometimes ask how we know a particular fact. We are happy to walk through our source for any claim on the site. Email info@bincollectionguide.org with the URL and the specific statement you want to ask about, and we will respond with the source and the date we last verified it.

For broader collaboration with academic researchers studying UK waste services, please use the same email with the subject “Research enquiry.”