Bin Day in Cheltenham

How the weekly food caddy and the alternating fortnightly bins work, what goes in each, and whether a bank holiday is shifting collections this week.

About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Cheltenham and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Cheltenham Borough Council collects bins on a fortnightly cycle, with the food caddy out every week. This explains which bin goes with which week, what belongs in each, and — checked against the official bank-holiday list — whether collections are shifting this week. For the exact day and which week your street is on, use the council's address checker below.

No bank holiday affecting collections this week

Collections are on their usual days. When a bank holiday falls in the week, collections move one day later for the rest of that week — a Monday collection becomes Tuesday, and so on — then return to normal the following week. Christmas and New Year have their own revised dates.

How the cycle works

Your food caddy goes out every week. Your green refuse bin and your green recycling boxes are collected on alternating weeks — one week the refuse bin, the next week the recycling — and the food caddy joins whichever is out. If you subscribe to garden waste, the brown bin is collected every fortnight too.

What goes in each bin

When in doubt, leave it out — the wrong item can spoil a whole load of recycling.

Food waste

Food caddy (kitchen + outdoor)

Every week

Collected every week, with whichever bin is out that week. Liners can be plastic bags, compostable liners, newspaper or kitchen roll — or none at all.

Goes in

Cooked and raw food scraps
Meat and fish, including bones
Dairy, cheese and eggs
Bread, cakes and pastries
Rice, pasta and beans
Fruit and vegetable peelings
Tea bags and coffee grounds
Out-of-date or mouldy food

Keep out

Any packaging — remove all plastic first
Liquids like milk
Pet waste or dead animals
Garden waste (use the brown bin)

General waste

Green wheelie bin

Every fortnight (alternating)

Every two weeks, alternating with recycling. The lid must close — extra bags left beside the bin are not collected.

Goes in

Non-recyclable household rubbish
Nappies and wipes
Soft plastics and crisp packets
Polystyrene
Cling film and food-stained wrappers

Keep out

Anything you can recycle or compost
Garden waste, soil or rubble
Electrical items and batteries
Paint, oils and other hazardous waste

Recycling

Green boxes and blue bag

Every fortnight (alternating)

Every two weeks, alternating with the green refuse bin. Sort into the boxes (tins and plastics, paper, glass) with flattened card in the blue bag — unsorted boxes are left behind.

Goes in

Plastic bottles, tubs, trays and pots
Tins, cans, foil and empty aerosols
Food and drink cartons (Tetra Pak)
Glass bottles and jars, any colour
Paper, newspaper, magazines and junk mail
Cardboard, flattened, in the blue bag

Keep out

Soft plastics, crisp packets and film
Polystyrene
Greasy or food-stained paper and card
Nappies, wipes and tissues
Drinking glasses, Pyrex and crockery

Garden waste

Brown wheelie bin

Every fortnight (alternating)

A paid subscription — £60 a year per bin plus a £4.99 delivery charge. Collected every fortnight, apart from about four weeks over Christmas and New Year.

Goes in

Grass cuttings
Hedge and shrub clippings
Leaves, twigs and bark
Plants, flowers and weeds
Windfall fruit
Small branches

Keep out

Soil and turf
Food waste or vegetable peelings
Plant pots and growbags
Large branches
Ash

Your exact day and which week — check by address

This page explains the cycle and what goes in each bin. For your collection day and whether your street is on week 1 or week 2, use the council’s official address checker — it’s the only place that knows your street: Cheltenham Borough Council bin-day checker.

Missed collection

Report within 48 hours of your collection day, and only if the bin was out at the kerb by 7am. The council aims to return within two working days. Call 01242 262626 · report it online

Bank-holiday dates from GOV.UK bank holidays · council bins page.