Bin and Recycling Collection Chart

What this sheet is for

Get a year of collection days onto one page, so the right bin goes out on the right night. Nobody should have to check a website in the dark in a dressing gown.

Who it is for

Households, house shares, landlords briefing new tenants and anyone who has just moved to an area with a different collection scheme.

How to use it

1. Fill in the key first — one line per bin, with its colour, contents and day.
2. Copy your collection dates across from your council or contractor's calendar.
3. Write the bin in the week it goes out; mark the weeks it does not.
4. Pin it inside a cupboard door near the bins, not in a drawer.

What is on the sheet

The layout is fixed at a size that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the A4 and Letter files are visually identical and print at full size on either. Rows are set at a height that an adult can actually write a date and a few words into with a pen — most printable tables are built in a word processor and never tested with one.

Questions

Which bin does which waste go in?

Nothing on this sheet says, because collection schemes differ enormously between countries, councils and contractors — the colours, the contents and the frequency. Take yours from your own collection calendar and write it in the key.

What about weeks with a public holiday?

Collections often move, and the chart has a column for each week so you can write the changed day in rather than remember it. Check your own calendar for the dates.