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Report a missed collection

Before you report a missed collection

Please check our list of possible reasons why your waste may not have been collected.   

Check our list 

For fortnightly collection services, eg,  Recycling and Garden Waste

Please ensure you have put your waste out on the correct week before reporting that your collection was missed.  You can check your collection day on our My Area page. 

Report a missed collection 

Missed rubbish collection


Missed recycling collection


Missed garden waste


Missed clinical collection


Missed bulky waste collection


Missed commercial waste collection

What happens next

If you report a missed collection, our contractor will check their vehicle tracking data and on-board CCTV footage. This is to confirm whether or not your waste was out for collection by 7.00 am at your collection point and correctly presented.   

  • Reports received before 12.00 noon Monday to Friday
    Our contractor will contact you and return by 6.00 pm the same day if their checks confirm they missed your waste.
  • Reports received after 12.00 noon Monday to Friday
    Our contractor will contact you and return by 12.00 noon the next day if their checks confirm they missed your waste.
  • Reports received on Saturday and Sunday
    Our contractor will contact you in the morning on the next working day. They will return by 12.00 noon that day if their checks confirm they missed your waste.

Missed collection already reported?

If you have already reported that your collection was missed and haven’t yet heard from our contractor by the relevant time stated above, please do not report it again.  You can request an update instead using the button below but you will need the 12 digit reference number (which starts 10100) from the confirmation email you were sent when you logged your original report.

Request an update on your missed collection report

Reasons why your waste may not have been collected

Please consider these possible reasons why your waste may not have been collected before you log a missed collection:

Your waste was not out for collection by 7.00 am

If you put it out later, you may have missed the collection crew who start their rounds at 7.00 am. 

You can check your collection day by entering your postcode and selecting your address on the My Area page.

Go to the my area page

The waste contained things we cannot collect

We can only take normal household waste.

View more information on rubbish collectionYou used the wrong container

For example:

  • You presented your household rubbish (residual waste) in a brown garden waste bin.  Brown bins are only to be used for garden waste (if you subscribe to the service).  They are collected on a separate round by a different collection crew.  The household rubbish collection crew will not check brown bins for household rubbish.
  • Your recycling was not separated out into the appropriate containers.  Please check our what goes into each container page if you're unsure how to sort your recycling.

You put bulky waste out for collection

Items heavier than 25kg/50lb or longer than 1 metre cannot be taken on the household rubbish collection round. 

You can book and pay for a Household Bulky Waste Collection or take the item(s) to one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).

You put garden waste out for collection

You should not put garden waste out amongst any other type of waste.  You can either:

Your waste contained too much clinical waste

If you produce more than a third of a black bag per week of non-infectious clinical waste, you will need to request a clinical waste collection.

Make clinical waste collection requestYou should never put any infectious waste or clinical sharps into your normal household waste. 

The collection round is later than usual

If the waste for the rest of your street hasn’t been collected, the collection may be running late.

Please wait until the end of the working day to report a missed collection.
Our collection contractor’s rounds operate until 6.00 pm.

Your collection has been missed many times

If your collection has been missed several times, the collection crew may not have seen your waste. 

Please provide your contact details when you report your missed collection. 

Our contractor’s admin team can contact you to check where you normally leave your waste for collection. 

Need help?

Most issues can be resolved online, it's the quickest and most convenient way to get help.

Use our contact us form