Bank holiday weeks run a day late, with Friday rounds moving to Saturday. Garden waste is £73, bulky collections start at £22.19, food waste goes weekly.
Winchester City Council runs five separate collections, and only one of them is weekly. Biffa does the work under contract. The council’s own lookup will tell you the date for a single address, but it does not tell you what happens in a bank holiday week, what garden waste costs, or what a sofa costs to take away. That is what this page is for.
Every figure below was checked against the council’s own pages and documents on 26 August 2026.
The bank holiday change, week of 31 August 2026
Collections slip one day for the whole of that week. Nothing is cancelled.
| Normal day | Revised day |
|---|---|
| Monday 31 August | Tuesday 1 September |
| Tuesday 1 September | Wednesday 2 September |
| Wednesday 2 September | Thursday 3 September |
| Thursday 3 September | Friday 4 September |
| Friday 4 September | Saturday 5 September |
Rounds go back to normal from Monday 7 September.
The council does not publish that table anywhere. We took it from the collection dates the council’s own bin day lookup returned on 26 August for addresses on each of the five rounds. A Denmead property on a Monday round returned Tuesday 1 September then Monday 7 September. A Curdridge property on a Friday round returned Saturday 5 September then Friday 11 September.
It matches what the council did at Easter. Its Easter 2026 notice used exactly the same pattern: everything a day later, and Friday rounds collected on the Saturday.
Do not trust the December dates yet
The council’s lookup will happily show you dates into next summer, but those are a projection. As of 26 August it was still showing Friday 25 December 2026 as a normal collection day for Friday rounds, and Monday 28 December for Monday rounds. Both are bank holidays. The Christmas changes have not been loaded yet.
Check again in early December. When the council makes the change, it appears in the lookup and in a news item, the way the Easter one did.
The five collections
| Container | What goes in it | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Black bin | General waste that cannot be recycled | Fortnightly |
| Green bin | Paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, tins, cans, aerosols | Fortnightly, alternating with the black bin |
| Brown bin | Garden waste, subscription only | Fortnightly, with the black bin |
| Food waste bin | All food waste, bagged | Weekly |
| Glass box | Glass bottles and jars | Every four weeks |
Sources: the council’s recycling page for what goes in the green bin and the glass box, its food waste page for the weekly food collection, and the collection dates returned by the council’s own bin day lookup for the frequencies.
The green bin rules that catch people out
The council’s rule is that recycling must be clean, dry and loose. Do not bag it. Its recycling page also lists things that look recyclable and are not:
- pizza boxes, because of the food debris
- shredded paper, because the fibres are too short to sort
- aluminium foil, because it is usually soiled
- plastic pots, tubs and trays, which cannot currently be recycled in Hampshire
- cartons such as Tetra Pak, though there is a carton bank at the Worthy Lane recycling site
- spray and pump dispensers, and any bottle that still has liquid in it
Glass does not go in the green bin. It goes in the separate box, or a bottle bank.
Presenting your bins
- Bins must be out by 6.30am on collection day.
- Only one 240 litre refuse bin is collected per household. If it is overloaded, the crew will take the excess out, empty the bin, and put the excess back in.
- Leave the food waste bin handle upright or forward-locked so it does not spill.
- An assisted collection is available if disability, illness or infirmity stops you putting bins out. The crew collects from an agreed point on your property and returns the bin. It covers refuse, recycling, food, glass and garden waste. Ring 0300 300 0013.
Find your own collection day
Use the council’s bin day lookup. Enter a postcode, pick the address, and it returns the next date for each of the five collections plus a printable calendar. You can also get reminders by email.
We have not built our own lookup and would not: the council’s is the authoritative one, and a copy would go stale.
Missed collection: you have until midday the next day
This is the single hardest deadline on the whole service, and it is easy to miss.
- Leave the bin out. The council says it will collect as soon as possible, including on a Saturday.
- Report it by midday on the day after your usual collection day. The council’s waste and recycling page is explicit: “We can only return to pick up a missed collection if it is reported by midday the day after your usual collection day.”
- Report it through the missed bin form, by email to customerservice@winchester.gov.uk, or on 0300 300 0013.
Garden waste: £73 a year
The 2026/27 subscription runs from 2 March 2026 to 1 March 2027. Prices from the council’s garden waste FAQs:
| Bin | Standard price | With Council Tax Reduction |
|---|---|---|
| Standard 240 litre | £73 | £58 |
| Smaller 140 litre | £48 | £33 |
Worth knowing:
- The discount is for Council Tax Reduction only. A single person discount does not qualify you, unless you also receive CTR.
- There is no sign-up deadline, but if you let an existing subscription lapse past 2 March you have to sign up again as a new customer.
- There is no sticker this year. Biffa’s crews identify subscribers from their in-cab system instead.
- A new or extra brown bin takes four to six weeks to arrive.
- A handful of properties with no room for a bin are on a bag service instead, at the same price: £48 for up to two bags, £73 for up to three.
- Small branches are capped at 65mm diameter. Soil, rubble, food scraps, coal ash and animal waste will get the bin left unemptied.
- Garden waste in the black bin will not be collected.
- Sharing a bin with a neighbour is allowed, and the council suggests it as a way to split the cost.
Bulky waste: £22.19 to £286.59
Biffa runs the chargeable collections, not the council directly. Book on 01962 670 706. Collections happen on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays only, subject to availability. Prices include VAT and hold until 31 January 2027.
| Category | Price | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A | £22.19 | Single mattress, TV, office chair, small chest of drawers, table up to 4 seats |
| B | £38.01 | Double mattress, dishwasher, washing machine, under-counter fridge, up to 3 small single items |
| C | £53.24 | Two or three seater sofa, bath, tall fridge freezer, single bed and mattress |
| D | £91.25 | American style fridge freezer, range cooker, upright piano, large wardrobe |
| E | £133.72 | Corner sofa, recliner sofa, 8 to 12 seater table with up to 12 chairs |
| F | £152.06 | Multiple items up to 4.5 cubic metres, a half load |
| G | £286.59 | Multiple items up to 9 cubic metres, a full load |
Full item lists are on the council’s bulky waste page.
Two rules that cost money:
- Upholstered furniture is collected separately from other bulky waste, because of the 2023 regulations on persistent organic pollutants. That covers sofas, armchairs, dining and office chairs, stools, beanbags and floor cushions.
- Split or damaged upholstery must be taped or bagged before collection. If the crew cannot take it for that reason, a £15 wasted journey charge may be applied and you have to book again.
Crews will not come inside your property. Leave the item within your boundary, somewhere it can be reached easily.
If the item still works, the council points to the Smart Living reuse directory and Freecycle first.
Recycling centres: four in the district, all need booking
The tips are run by Hampshire County Council, not Winchester. Every visit needs an appointment, bookable up to a week ahead. Same-day slots depend on availability.
| Site | Address |
|---|---|
| Winchester | Bar End Industrial Estate, SO23 9NP |
| Bishops Waltham | Claylands Road, SO32 1BH |
| New Alresford | Prospect Road, SO24 9QF |
| Waterlooville | Darnel Road, PO7 7TX |
All four keep the same hours, seven days a week:
- 9am to 6pm, 1 April to 30 September
- 9am to 5pm, 1 March to 31 March
- 9am to 4pm, 1 October to 28 February
They close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Details from Hampshire’s recycling centre finder and its booking page.
Other things worth knowing before you drive there:
- Pedestrians are not allowed in. Cyclists can book a slot.
- A van, pick-up or trailer may need a permit.
- A hired van is fine if you have had it three days or fewer and bring the hire agreement.
- Non-Hampshire residents pay £13.50 a visit, payable at booking, and cannot drop DIY waste free. Portsmouth and Southampton residents are exempt.
- Fridges and freezers are not guaranteed at the moment. Hampshire has a UK-wide capacity problem and sites can refuse them once storage is full.
- Garden waste is free to take yourself.
There are also council bring sites across the district, mostly for glass, at village halls, pubs and shop car parks from Bighton to Denmead. The full list is on the council’s page.
Broken or missing bins
The council updated this page on 24 August 2026, and the rules are not what most people assume.
- Black and green bins are the householder’s responsibility. If yours is worn out, damaged, vandalised, lost or stolen, you buy a replacement. It costs £40.97 including delivery, from Biffa on 01962 670 706.
- Only one 240 litre refuse bin can be bought per household unless you qualify for extra capacity. There is no limit on recycling bins.
- Food waste bins and glass boxes are free, including replacements.
- If you think the crew damaged a bin that is under 10 years old, report it. Biffa and the council investigate, and if it was not age-related wear a free replacement may follow. Bins over 10 years old are treated as brittle with age.
Details on the council’s lost and damaged bins page.
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