How to check your Reading bin collection day, what goes in the red, grey, green and food bins, garden waste charges, and what to do when a bin is missed.

If you have just moved to the town, or you can never remember which week the red bin goes out, this is the page to bookmark. Your Reading bin collection is run by Reading Borough Council, and the pattern is easier than most: food waste every week, then the red recycling bin and the grey rubbish bin on alternate fortnights. Below is how to find your own collection day, what belongs in each container, what garden waste costs, and what to do when a bin is left behind, with every figure linked back to the council’s own pages so you can check it yourself.

How to find your bin collection day

Reading Borough Council runs a free postcode checker. You put in your address and it returns your collection dates.

  • Open the council’s bin collection date checker and enter your postcode.
  • The same tool shows whether a collection has been rescheduled, which matters around bank holidays and in bad weather. The council’s advice if your bin is not emptied is blunt and worth following: “If your bin isn’t collected, please leave it out. It will be picked up during extended collection hours.”
  • Some Reading postcodes sit outside the borough, particularly around Tilehurst. If the checker does not recognise your address, it points you to the council finder on GOV.UK.

The council gives two different times, so use the earlier one. Its recycling at home page asks you to “place your bin, bag or box at the boundary of your property by 6am”, with “all bin lids must be down for collection”. The report a missed bin page says 5am.

The collection pattern in one line

Reading works on a three-part rhythm:

  • Food waste: every week, on the same day as whichever big bin is due.
  • Red recycling bin: every other week.
  • Grey rubbish bin: every other week, on the weeks the red bin is not collected.
  • Green garden bin or bag: every other week, if you pay for the service.

The council states the position plainly: red and grey bins are “collected once a fortnight on alternate weeks”. So in any given week you will have your food caddy out plus one of the two wheeled bins, never both.

What goes in each bin

The full list is on the council’s what do I put in each bin page. The short version:

Reading bin colours, contents and frequency
ContainerFrequencyYesNo
Red recycling binFortnightlyPlastic bottles, pots, trays and tubs, paper, card, cartons, foil, tins, cans, aerosols, shredded paper, toothpaste tubesGlass, plastic bags and film, black plastic trays, food, nappies, coffee cups, textiles, polystyrene
Grey rubbish binFortnightlyNon-recyclable rubbish, nappies, hygiene wasteFood waste, recyclables, soil, rubble, garden cuttings, hazardous or business waste
Food waste binWeeklyAll uneaten food and plate scrapings, meat, bones, bread, dairy, peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds, pet food, sealed cooking oilPackaging, liquids such as milk, garden waste, pet litter
Green garden bin or bagFortnightly, paidGrass and hedge cuttings, leaves, plants, weeds, untreated wood up to 100mm thickFood waste, treated wood, soil, turf, garden furniture, pet bedding, gravel

The glass trap

The one that catches people out: glass does not go in the red bin. Bottles and jars go to a community recycling bank or the tip. Put a wine bottle in the red bin and you risk the crew logging a contamination issue, which then blocks you from reporting a missed collection.

Food waste: what you get

Every household on the service gets two containers: “a small silver indoor kitchen caddy (5 litre)” for the worktop and “a larger black food waste bin (23 litre)” for the kerbside. Flats work differently, with a small caddy indoors that you empty into a shared outdoor bin with a blue lid. Put the outside bin at the edge of your property by 6am. The council says the collected food waste goes through the re3 recycling centre and on to a Severn Trent plant, where it becomes fertiliser and energy (food waste collection).

The plastic bags and wrapping trial

A trial is taking the soft plastics the red bin normally rejects: “all plastic bags”, confectionery wrappers, foil-lined packaging, film and sleeves, bubble wrap and cling film, as long as everything is “dry, clean and free from any food”. You collect it in a blue bag, tie it securely and “place it inside and at the top of your recycling bin”. It is not borough-wide. The council describes it as running on a sample group of streets within a scheme covering 20,000 re3 households (plastic bags and wrapping recycling trial), so check the street list first.

Garden waste: what it costs

Garden waste is not free. Your food, recycling and rubbish collections are paid for out of council tax, but the green bin sits outside that as an annual subscription (garden waste):

  • £78 a year for a green bin, or £58.50 if you receive Council Tax Support.
  • £31 a year for a green bag, or £23.25 with Council Tax Support.
  • A new bin costs £68 and a new bag £16 on top of the subscription.

Three things catch people out. Since 12 March 2025 “charges are applied to every bin and bag collected”, so two containers means two subscriptions, capped at two per property. Your subscription year starts not when you pay but “from the date the green waste bin or bag is delivered to you”, and delivery takes up to four weeks. And collections are fortnightly all year apart from a two week pause over Christmas, with renewal available up to four weeks ahead.

Ordering and replacing bins

Prices differ sharply by container (order a bin or bag). A grey rubbish bin costs £33.50 for 140 litres, and the council empties one standard grey bin per property without adding extras. Red recycling bins are free, extras included. Food waste bins and kitchen caddies are free where a property has weekly food collections, and can be picked up in person from 19 Bennet Road, 8am to 2pm, Monday to Friday. Delivery is running at about four weeks.

When a bin is missed

Report it through the council’s report a missed bin page, but check the rules first, because several things stop a report being accepted:

  • You have 48 hours. “You must report a missed bin within 48 hours of it being missed.”
  • The round may still be running. Crews work late; a bin still out at teatime is often not a miss.
  • The checker may already show a new date. If the collection has been rescheduled, there is nothing to report.
  • The crew may have logged a reason. The council will not process a report where the crew recorded “the wrong bin being put out, the wrong things were in the bin, blocked access or road closures”.

The tip: Smallmead, and why you need to book

Anything the kerbside service will not take goes to the household waste recycling centre at Smallmead, Island Road, Reading RG2 0RP, run by re3, the waste partnership between Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell Forest (the recycling centre).

  • Visiting is by appointment only, booked through re3’s Click and Tip service on a rolling seven day basis, and cancellable up to three hours before your slot.
  • Open seven days a week: 8am to 8pm from 1 April to 30 September, and 8am to 6pm from 31 October to 31 March. Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and closing at 4pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
  • Bring proof you live in one of the three re3 areas: a driving licence, council tax bill or a utility bill less than four months old.
  • Most household waste is free, but DIY waste has a free allowance capped at four visits in any four week period, and some items such as gas bottles are chargeable.

Bins and building work

Converting a property or adding flats brings bin storage into scope: the council publishes waste guidelines for developers and landlords on how storage and collection points should be designed, and those requirements surface during the planning process. Our guide to Reading planning applications explains how to find the file for any address in the borough.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check my bin collection day in Reading?

Enter your postcode in Reading Borough Council’s bin collection date checker. It returns your dates and flags any collection that has been rescheduled. Put your bin out by 5am to be safe, with the lid down.

Are bin collections weekly or fortnightly in Reading?

Both. Food waste is collected weekly. The red recycling bin and the grey rubbish bin are each collected once a fortnight, on alternate weeks, so you always have one of the two out alongside your food caddy.

Can I put glass in the red recycling bin in Reading?

No. Glass is on the council’s list of things the red bin does not take, along with plastic bags and film, black plastic trays, nappies, coffee cups, textiles and polystyrene. Take bottles and jars to a community recycling bank or to the tip at Smallmead.

How much does garden waste collection cost in Reading?

£78 a year for a green bin and £31 a year for a green bag, reduced to £58.50 and £23.25 for households on Council Tax Support. A replacement bin is £68 and a bag £16. Charges apply per container, and the subscription starts on the day your container is delivered.

What do I do if my bin was not emptied?

Leave it out: the council says missed bins are picked up during extended collection hours. If it is still there, check the postcode tool for a rescheduled date, then report it within 48 hours. Reports are not processed where the crew logged the wrong bin, wrong contents, blocked access or a road closure.

Do I have to book to use the tip in Reading?

Yes. Smallmead on Island Road is appointment only, booked through re3’s Click and Tip service up to seven days ahead. Take ID showing you live in Reading, Wokingham or Bracknell Forest.

Sources

Charges and opening times are those published by Reading Borough Council and re3 and are reviewed periodically. Always check the council’s own page before you pay or travel. Last checked 4 August 2026.