Bin and bag instructions

  • We provide household waste and recycling collections to all homes across Lichfield District and Tamworth Borough.
  • We provide households with the following bins which we empty every other week - so one week we will empty your black bin and the next week we'll empty your blue bin and bag:
    • Blue bin for glass, cans and plastics - find out more.
    • Blue bag* for paper and card - find out more.
    • Black bin for household waste that can't be recycled - find out more.
    • If you live in a rural area you may have a *purple bin instead of a blue bag - if you do we will empty your blue bin one fortnight and your purple bin the following fortnight.
  • Please make sure your bins / bag are out by 6am by the kerbside (at your usual collection point) on the day of your collection.
  • Visit our bin calendar to find out when to put your bins / bag out.
  • Find out what to do if your bins/bags are not emptied. 

Other services

  • If you want us to empty your garden waste bin, you will need to sign up to our garden waste collection service.
  • If you need to get rid of a bulky item, such as a sofa or fridge and can't get it to the nearest household recycling centre, why not find out if we can help? You can book a scrap metal or bulky collection up to a month in advance online.

If you have just moved into a new house - welcome to the district - find out more about how to order bins.

Compost

Food waste coming soon

Food waste makes up around a third of household rubbish. In line with government requirements, we will be rolling out a new weekly food waste collection service from March 2026.

Find out more
Vape

Never throw vapes or batteries your household bins

It's really important not to put vapes or batteries in any of your household bins - they become extremely dangerous when compacted and can ignite and cause fires endangering our crews, our vehicles, tip sites and multi-million pound machinery.

Never put batteries or vapes in your bins
Cardboard

What to do with excess cardboard

We know people need to throw away extra cardboard from time to time - and they may have more than they can fit into their blue bag - for example when online shopping or at Christmas. If you need to throw away excess cardboard, find out what to do.

Find out more