Bracknell Forest bin collection dates for all six schedules to Easter 2027, with the Christmas changes, garden waste prices and the tip. Updated November 2026.
Bracknell Forest empties your green general waste bin once every three weeks. That is the longest gap of the four kerbside services, and it is the thing most people get wrong.
The blue recycling bin and the brown garden bin are every two weeks. The food caddy is weekly. A fifth container, for glass, arrives in March 2027.
Everything below was checked against Bracknell Forest Council, re3 and the council’s own collection-day service on Monday 31 August 2026, and rechecked on 30 September 2026. The November weeks were added on 6 October 2026 from the council’s collection-day service. On 15 October 2026 we rechecked every week against the council’s new November 2026 to October 2027 schedules, which are now online, and extended the table to 10 January 2027, through Christmas and New Year. On 31 October 2026 we read all 13 schedule pages again and carried every table on to 4 April 2027, the week of Easter Monday.
Bracknell bin collection: find your day in two steps
- Look up your address on Bracknell Forest Council’s bin collection day finder. It gives your next dates for each bin and your schedule number. Brown bin dates only show if you pay for garden waste.
- Read across your schedule in the week-by-week tables below to see which bins go out in each week to 4 April 2027. Schedules 1 to 6 are in the first table; the new lettered schedules (1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A and 5A) are covered under it.
The colours, in one line: green is general waste (every 3 weeks), blue is recycling (every 2 weeks), brown is paid garden waste (every 2 weeks) and the food caddy goes out every week. In a block of flats the general waste bin can be red instead of green. Every container must be out by 6am.
The four bins, and how often each one is emptied
| Bin | What it takes | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Green | General waste that cannot be recycled | Every 3 weeks |
| Blue | Dry recycling | Every 2 weeks |
| Brown | Garden waste, paid subscription only | Every 2 weeks |
| Food caddy | All food waste, no packaging | Weekly |
Put every container out by 6am on your collection day. The council suggests the night before. Find your own day with the council’s collection day finder, which takes a postcode and a house number.
One thing the finder shows that the printed schedules do not: your garden bin can be on a different day from everything else. A Binfield address we checked has its green, blue and food collections on a Tuesday and its brown bin on a Thursday. A Sandhurst address has a Friday round and a Thursday garden bin.
Bracknell bin collection dates to Easter 2027, by schedule
Every house in the borough sits on one of six collection schedules. Your schedule decides which weeks the green, blue and brown bins go out; the food caddy goes out every week whatever your schedule. The day of the week stays the same, so find your day and your schedule number on the council’s collection day finder, then read across.
| Week | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3 | Schedule 4 | Schedule 5 | Schedule 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 October to 1 November | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 2 to 8 November | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Green | Blue, brown, green |
| 9 to 15 November | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 16 to 22 November | Food only | Blue, brown | Green | Blue, brown, green | Food only | Blue, brown |
| 23 to 29 November | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown, green | Green |
| 30 November to 6 December | Green | Blue, brown, green | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown |
| 7 to 13 December | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 14 to 20 December | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Green | Blue, brown, green |
| 21 to 27 December (Christmas) | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 28 December to 3 January (Christmas) | Food only | Blue | Green | Blue, green | Food only | Blue |
| 4 to 10 January (New Year) | Blue | Food only | Blue | Food only | Blue, green | Green |
| 11 to 17 January | Green | Blue, brown, green | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown |
| 18 to 24 January | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 25 to 31 January | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Green | Blue, brown, green |
| 1 to 7 February | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 8 to 14 February | Food only | Blue, brown | Green | Blue, brown, green | Food only | Blue, brown |
| 15 to 21 February | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown, green | Green |
| 22 to 28 February | Green | Blue, brown, green | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown |
| 1 to 7 March | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 8 to 14 March | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Green | Blue, brown, green |
| 15 to 21 March | Blue, brown, green | Green | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only |
| 22 to 28 March | Food only | Blue, brown | Green | Blue, brown, green | Food only | Blue, brown |
| 29 March to 4 April (Easter Monday) | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown | Food only | Blue, brown, green | Green |
Blue is recycling, brown is garden waste (subscribers only) and green is general waste. Every row from 2 November 2026 to 4 April 2027 is read straight off the council’s schedule pages for November 2026 to October 2027, rechecked on 31 October 2026; the October row is from last year’s calendar. In the three Christmas weeks the days move too: see the Christmas section below. In the week of Easter Monday, 29 March 2027, every round runs a day late and Friday’s goes to Saturday 3 April; see the bank holiday section.
Brown bins go quiet over Christmas. On schedules 1 to 6, no garden waste goes from 28 December until the weeks of 11 or 18 January, depending on your schedule, and from then the brown bin is back on its normal fortnight.
The new lettered schedules: 1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A and 5A
The council’s schedule list now runs to 13 schedules, not six. Seven lettered ones were added with the November 2026 to October 2027 calendars. If the day finder gives you a letter, use it:
- 2A, 2B and 4A put out the same bins in the same weeks as schedules 2 and 4 above, so read those columns.
- 1A, 3A, 3B and 5A are different. The brown bin goes out in the weeks the blue bin does not, so apart from Christmas there is no food-only week at all. 3A and 3B are identical week by week.
| Week | Schedule 1A | Schedules 3A and 3B | Schedule 5A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 to 8 November | Brown | Brown | Brown, green |
| 9 to 15 November | Blue, green | Blue | Blue |
| 16 to 22 November | Brown | Brown, green | Brown |
| 23 to 29 November | Blue | Blue | Blue, green |
| 30 November to 6 December | Brown, green | Brown | Brown |
| 7 to 13 December | Blue | Blue, green | Blue |
| 14 to 20 December | Brown | Brown | Brown, green |
| 21 to 27 December (Christmas) | Blue, green | Blue | Blue |
| 28 December to 3 January (Christmas) | Food only | Green | Food only |
| 4 to 10 January (New Year) | Blue | Blue | Blue, green |
| 11 to 17 January | Brown, green | Brown | Brown |
| 18 to 24 January | Blue | Blue, green | Blue |
| 25 to 31 January | Brown | Brown | Brown, green |
| 1 to 7 February | Blue, green | Blue | Blue |
| 8 to 14 February | Brown | Brown, green | Brown |
| 15 to 21 February | Blue | Blue | Blue, green |
| 22 to 28 February | Brown, green | Brown | Brown |
| 1 to 7 March | Blue | Blue, green | Blue |
| 8 to 14 March | Brown | Brown | Brown, green |
| 15 to 21 March | Blue, green | Blue | Blue |
| 22 to 28 March | Brown | Brown, green | Brown |
| 29 March to 4 April (Easter Monday) | Blue | Blue | Blue, green |
The food caddy goes out every week on every lettered schedule too. Source: the council’s seven lettered schedule pages, read on 15 October 2026 and again on 31 October 2026, when we checked that 2A, 2B and 4A still match schedules 2 and 4 in every week to October 2027, and 3A matches 3B.
Three things the schedule pages say, or leave out:
- The 2026 to 2027 schedules are now published. Each schedule page carries a downloadable calendar for November 2026 to October 2027 alongside last year’s, and a schedule hanger goes on every green bin in October. They were not online on 6 October 2026; by 15 October they were.
- If your brown bin is collected on a different day from your blue bin, the schedules do not apply to you. The council says so at the top of every schedule page. Use the day finder instead.
- Two weeks in every six, only the food caddy goes out. The pattern repeats on a six-week cycle under every schedule, and no wheeled bin is emptied in those weeks. That is why a missed blue bin can leave you waiting a fortnight.
A bank holiday moves your whole week on by one day
This is the recurring question, and the council does not publish a table for it. So we checked five real addresses across the borough on the summer bank holiday itself.
Every round slid by exactly one day, and the Friday round went to a Saturday:
| Normal collection day | This bank holiday week |
|---|---|
| Monday | Tuesday 1 September |
| Tuesday | Wednesday 2 September |
| Wednesday | Thursday 3 September |
| Thursday | Friday 4 September |
| Friday | Saturday 5 September |
Those dates come from the council’s own collection day service for addresses in Bracknell, Binfield, Crowthorne and Sandhurst, queried on 31 August 2026. Normal days resume the following week.
Bank holidays in 2027: Good Friday is the exception
The council’s 2026 to 2027 calendars put the rule in writing: collections are one day late in any week that includes a bank holiday Monday, and Friday collections are done on the Saturday. Good Friday is different: collections on Good Friday are completed as usual. So for Easter 2027:
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| Good Friday, 26 March 2027 | Normal Friday collection, no change |
| Easter Monday, 29 March 2027 | Week runs a day late: Monday’s round on Tuesday 30 March, through to Friday’s round on Saturday 3 April |
| Early May bank holiday, 3 May 2027 | Week runs a day late, Friday’s round on Saturday 8 May |
| Spring bank holiday, 31 May 2027 | Week runs a day late, Friday’s round on Saturday 5 June |
Source: the footnote on the council’s schedule 1 calendar for November 2026 to October 2027, PDF, read on 31 October 2026. The bank holiday dates are the government’s for England.
Bracknell bin collections at Christmas 2026
Now published. The council’s November 2026 to October 2027 calendars carry the Christmas table. Food, recycling and general waste run as normal up to and including Thursday 24 December, then every round moves on:
| Normal collection day | Revised collection day |
|---|---|
| Friday 25 December | Monday 28 December |
| Monday 28 December | Tuesday 29 December |
| Tuesday 29 December | Wednesday 30 December |
| Wednesday 30 December | Thursday 31 December |
| Thursday 31 December | Saturday 2 January |
| Friday 1 January | Monday 4 January |
| Monday 4 January | Tuesday 5 January |
| Tuesday 5 January | Wednesday 6 January |
| Wednesday 6 January | Thursday 7 January |
| Thursday 7 January | Friday 8 January |
| Friday 8 January | Saturday 9 January |
All collections are back to normal from Monday 11 January 2027. Two things to watch:
- Thursday households jump two days, from 31 December to Saturday 2 January, because New Year’s Day is skipped.
- There are no garden waste collections from 29 December, because the vehicles are moved on to the extra Christmas waste and recycling. Brown bins resume from 11 January. A Christmas tree goes as garden waste only if it is cut up and fits in a closed brown bin or a booked council garden waste sack, with the lights and decorations off; otherwise book a bulky collection or take it to Longshot Lane.
Source: the council’s schedule calendars for November 2026 to October 2027 (for example the schedule 1 calendar, PDF), read on 15 October 2026. The table is the same on every schedule. More on the festive tip hours and last year’s pattern is on our Bracknell Christmas bin collections page. The re3 recycling centres close from 4pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and all day on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Garden waste: £47 for the bin, then £70 or £75 a year
The brown bin is not part of the standard service. You buy the bin, then pay an annual collection charge that covers 25 collections.
- A new brown bin costs £47, in either 240 litre or 140 litre size.
- The annual charge is £75 for a 240 litre bin and £70 for a 140 litre bin.
- If you receive an income-related benefit, both charges halve, to £37.50 and £35.
Your subscription year runs from the date you pay, not from April. Full terms and the order form are on the council’s garden waste page.
Branches wider than 7.5cm or longer than 1.2m do not go in it, and neither do soil, turf, stones or flower pots. Chopped up Christmas trees do.
These are the 2026 charges: the council’s garden waste page still showed £47, £75 and £70 when we rechecked it on 30 September 2026.
No brown bin? Use sacks. The council sells brown biodegradable garden waste sacks at £1.50 each, and the collection is included in the price, so there is no annual fee. Each collection has to be booked, online through the council’s garden waste sacks page or on 01344 352000. The sacks are sold at the borough’s libraries, the parish and town council offices, and a handful of shops including Moss End Garden Centre and Tool Stop in Great Hollands.
Bulky collections are priced per item, not per set
The council charges £59 for up to 3 items and £75 for 4 to 7 items. Both halve for households on an income-related benefit, to £29.50 and £37.50.
The word “item” is doing a lot of work here. The council counts a bed base, a mattress and a headboard as three separate items. A carpet and its underlay from one room count as two.
Other conditions worth knowing before you book on the bulky collection page:
- Items must be out by 6am, and no time slot is given.
- No changes are possible after 3pm on the working day before, and cancellations after that are not refunded.
- Wardrobes, large garden furniture, swings and slides must be dismantled.
- Fridges and freezers must be completely empty, BBQs need the gas canister out and lawnmowers need the petrol drained.
- You can add up to 3 small electrical items free with any bulky collection, defined as anything that would fit in a supermarket carrier bag.
The council also names the British Heart Foundation, Thames Hospice and DEBRA as free alternatives for good quality furniture that still has its fire label.
Missed collection: two different deadlines
Bracknell Forest gives you a shorter window for food waste than for anything else.
- Food waste: report it by 5pm on the day after your collection day.
- Green, blue and brown bins: report it up to 3 days after your collection day.
If the council finds no recorded reason for the miss, it arranges a collection within two working days. If there is a recorded reason, you wait for the next scheduled collection or pay £37 for an additional one.
The bin issues page lists the reasons crews leave a bin: it was not at the collection point, it went out after 6am, it holds the wrong material, or it weighs more than 75kg. Bins that are not Bracknell Forest bins are not emptied at all.
What confuses people about the blue bin
Two rules here catch people out.
Textiles go in the blue bin. Clothes, bedding and duvets are on the accepted list, alongside the usual paper, card, cans, cartons, foil and rigid plastics.
Black plastic does not. The council’s explanation is blunt: sorting equipment cannot detect the carbon black pigment, so black meat trays and ready meal bases go in the green bin. Other colours are fine.
Batteries are not a blue bin item either, but you can leave them in a clear plastic bag on top of the bin on your collection day. Used cooking oil is a food caddy item, poured into a sealed plastic bottle; no other liquid is. Glass is not accepted yet. Nappies, tissues, crisp bags, polystyrene, cellophane and any kind of plastic bag all belong in the green bin.
Around 10,000 properties in the borough are currently in a trial for kerbside collection of plastic bags and wrapping. If you are not in it, you have not been forgotten.
The glass bin arrives in March 2027
Bracknell Forest has no kerbside glass collection today, and that changes next spring. The council has published the detail on its glass bin collection page:
- Houses get a 140 litre wheeled bin, emptied once every four weeks.
- It is emptied on the working day after your usual collection day, deliberately, so that every bin is not out on the same morning.
- Flats get communal bins of up to 360 litres, emptied every two weeks.
- Bins are delivered to every household between Monday 11 January and Friday 19 February 2027.
- Existing glass banks will be cut by at least half, and the council has not said which ones stay.
It is a mandatory service under the Environment Act 2021, so there is no opting out. The other four collections carry on unchanged.
The tip: Longshot Lane, and you have to book to drive in
The borough’s recycling centre is at Longshot Lane, Bracknell, RG12 1RL, run by re3 on behalf of Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham. Bracknell Forest residents can also use Smallmead on Island Road, Reading, RG2 0RP.
Both are open seven days a week. Per re3’s own site page the hours are:
- April to September: 8am to 8pm
- October to March: 8am to 6pm
You must book a 30 minute slot to arrive in any vehicle, up to seven days ahead, through the Click and Tip system. You do not need to book to walk or cycle in. You can book as many slots as you want, but only for the site you booked.
Take proof that you live in the re3 area: a driving licence, or a council tax, bank, credit card or utility statement less than four months old. Old re3 residents’ permits are no longer accepted. Soil, rubble, plasterboard, timber, gas bottles, asbestos, windows and doors all carry a charge, payable on site by card only.
Bin requests: a bigger bin, a smaller bin, or help getting it out
The council’s bin requests page covers four situations, and one of them is the reverse of what people expect. You can ask for a smaller general waste bin, not only a larger or additional one. The other reasons are moving into a home that has no bins at all, and borrowing bins for a community event.
An additional bin is a subscription, not a one-off purchase. The council sends a renewal reminder when it is due, with the payment link in the reminder itself. If you miss it, the extra bin stops being emptied.
Repairs, missing bins and abandoned bins are handled on the bin issues page instead, and that page also takes a request to have a bin removed.
For an assisted collection, crews take the bin from your doorstep or an agreed spot and put it back afterwards. The council states the qualifying test plainly: if there is someone else at the address who can move the bins, you will not qualify. New applicants are contacted to confirm the arrangement rather than approved silently.
Flats: your general waste bin may be red, and the council is not who to ring
Every schedule and colour guide above describes a house. Flats work differently in two ways that catch new residents out.
First, the general waste bin in a communal store can be green or red. The council confirms it on both its general waste page and its bin collection for flats page, and says not every store has both colours. Red and green mean the same thing here.
Second, bins in flats are organised by landlords and managing agents, not the council. If a communal bin is missing, overflowing or damaged, the council’s advice is to contact the managing agent. Bins are allocated per store by the number of flats sharing them, and anything left on the floor beside a full bin is not collected.
Recycling in a communal store must be loose in the blue bin, washed and squashed. A blue bin with the wrong material in it can be left unemptied for the whole block.
Frequently asked questions
How often is the green bin emptied in Bracknell?
Once every three weeks. Blue recycling and brown garden bins are every two weeks and the food caddy is weekly, so the green bin has the longest gap of the four services.
Which week is my Bracknell bin collection?
Every address sits on one of the council’s schedules: 1 to 6, or one of the new lettered ones (1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A). The tables above run each of them week by week to 4 April 2027. Find your schedule and your day on the council’s collection day finder, then read across.
Why has nothing been collected except my food caddy?
On schedules 1 to 6, 2A, 2B and 4A, two weeks in every six are food-only. No wheeled bin is emptied in those weeks, which is why a blue bin missed in a food-only week leaves a fortnight’s gap. Schedules 1A, 3A, 3B and 5A have no food-only weeks outside Christmas.
Does a bank holiday change my bin day in Bracknell?
Yes, when it is a Monday. Every round slides on by one day for that week, and the Friday round moves to a Saturday. Normal days resume the week after.
Are bins collected on Good Friday in Bracknell?
Yes. The council’s 2026 to 2027 calendars say Good Friday collections are completed as usual, so Friday 26 March 2027 is a normal collection day. It is the following week, with Easter Monday on 29 March, that runs a day late.
When does the new Bracknell bin schedule come out?
It is out. The November 2026 to October 2027 calendars went up on every schedule page in October 2026, and a printed schedule hanger goes on every green bin during the month. Our tables run to 4 April 2027.
Which bins go out in November 2026 in Bracknell?
It depends on your schedule. In the week of 2 November schedule 6 has all three wheeled bins out, in the week of 9 November it is schedule 1, and in the week of 16 November it is schedule 4. The food caddy goes out every week on every schedule.
How long do I have to report a missed bin?
Food waste must be reported by 5pm the day after your collection day. Green, blue and brown bins give you up to three days. Outside those windows the council will not arrange a return visit.
Can I get a smaller general waste bin?
Yes. A smaller green bin is one of the reasons listed on the council’s bin requests form, alongside a larger or additional bin.
When does the glass bin arrive?
March 2027. Bins are delivered to every household between Monday 11 January and Friday 19 February 2027, and are emptied once every four weeks, on the working day after your usual collection day.
How do I find my bin collection day in Bracknell?
Enter your address on Bracknell Forest Council’s bin collection day finder. It shows your next collection dates and which schedule you are on. If you pay for garden waste, your brown bin dates are included.
What bin colour goes out this week in Bracknell?
It depends on your schedule. Green is general waste, blue is recycling and brown is garden waste, and the food caddy goes out every week. The table above shows, week by week, which colours go out on every schedule to 4 April 2027.
How much is garden waste collection in Bracknell in 2026?
£75 a year for a 240 litre brown bin or £70 for a 140 litre bin, covering 25 collections, plus £47 to buy the bin. Households on an income-related benefit pay half. Sacks cost £1.50 each with the collection included.
Are Bracknell bin collections changing at Christmas 2026?
Yes. Collections run as normal up to Thursday 24 December, then each round moves to a later day until Saturday 9 January, and Thursday 31 December collections move to Saturday 2 January. Normal days return on Monday 11 January 2027. Garden waste stops from 29 December and resumes from 11 January.
Is there a brown bin collection over Christmas in Bracknell?
Not after 28 December. The council suspends garden waste from 29 December 2026 and restarts it from 11 January 2027. A cut-up Christmas tree in a closed brown bin goes from then.
More Bracknell information
Roadworks, closures and diversions across the borough are on our Bracknell roadworks and travel page. Car park tariffs, permits and the borough’s free car parks are on our Bracknell parking page, and the full band A to H tables for all six parishes are on our Bracknell council tax page.
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