Birmingham bin strike: what to do with your rubbish and bulky waste

Updated 9 October 2026Facts checked 9 October 2026

Your grey-lid bin is still emptied once a week. In most of the city, though, recycling, garden waste and bulky waste collections are suspended while the strike goes on.

Here’s what’s running, where you can take things yourself, and how to stay clear of a fly-tipping fine.

Get quotes from checked collectors Recycling centres and opening hours

Photo: Roger D Kidd, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped

What’s affected right now

Refuse workers who belong to Unite the Union have been on all-out strike since 11 March 2025, after intermittent action from January 2025, in a dispute with Birmingham City Council. On 6 October 2026 the council’s leader, Councillor Roger Harmer, said the council was “very close” to resolving it, and was waiting for final advice from its external auditors before deciding. A deal would need approval from the council’s cabinet and from Unite’s members. Until then, the council’s strike arrangements stay in place.

Service	During the strike
Grey-lid rubbish bin	Emptied once a week on your usual day. Put it out before 6am that day, and not before 3:30pm the day before. If it’s missed, leave it out: the council may come at the weekend.
Extra bags beside the bin	Don’t count on it. The council’s strike FAQ says a reasonable amount in black bags next to the bin is taken; its rubbish bin page says extra bags won’t be. Take extra to a recycling centre.
Blue-lid recycling	Suspended, so don’t put the bin out. Keep your recycling, or take it to a recycling centre.
Garden waste	Suspended until further notice.
Bulky waste collections	No new bookings. Collections booked before the pause still go ahead.
Assisted and clinical waste collections	Still running, as priority collections.
Replacement bins	Requests are paused. No grey bin? Use bin bags for now.

One exception: in the waste pilot in North Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield, recycling is coming back, collected every other week with a weekly food waste collection. The council writes to each home before its new service starts. No letter means your collections haven’t changed.

What you can still do yourself

Birmingham’s five household recycling centres are run for the council by Veolia. They are open longer during the strike:

Monday to Friday, 7am to 9pm
Saturday and Sunday, 8am to 6pm

Centre	Address	Good to know
Castle Bromwich	Tameside Drive, B35 7AG	No booking needed by car for now. Vans still book.
Kings Norton	Lifford Lane, B30 3JJ	Being rebuilt: no vans or trailers, and no large appliances, books or fluorescent tubes.
Perry Barr	Holford Drive, B42 2TU
Sutton Coldfield	Norris Way, B75 7BB
Tyseley	James Road, B11 2BA	The only one with no 2.1 metre height limit. Has a reuse shop.

The rules for every visit:

Book a slot online first, unless you’re coming by car to Castle Bromwich. One booking is one visit.
Bring proof that you live in Birmingham: a driving licence, or a council tax or utility bill, on paper or on your phone. Without it you’ll be turned away.
Coming in a van, or with a trailer bigger than 6 by 4 feet? Book a van visit, which is a separate booking.
Rubble, soil and hardcore: up to eight 25kg bags a visit. Car tyres: up to five.
Household waste only. No trade waste, nothing from a landlord, and nothing from clearing a house that isn’t your own.

They take most things from a home: sofas and other furniture, mattresses, carpets, fridges and other electricals, garden waste, wood, metal, paint and general rubbish. Asbestos is taken only if it’s domestic cement-bonded asbestos, double wrapped with a clear outer layer, and not at Kings Norton.

No car, or no slot? The council’s two Mobile Household Waste Centres visit ten places a week, for a morning at a time, between 7:30am and 1pm. You don’t need to book or bring ID. They take household rubbish and bulky items such as furniture, but not rubble, paint, fridges or washing machines, or anything hazardous, and they’re not taking waste from vans during the strike. Find the next visit near you.

A few things that help:

Keep bin lids closed, and bag food waste tightly so pests can’t get in.
Don’t leave rubbish anywhere it won’t be collected, not even outside the Council House. The council treats that as fly-tipping.
Seen rubbish dumped? Report fly-tipping to the council.

If you pay someone to take it

Book through scrapmarket and the checks and paperwork are done for you. Every collector’s licence, ID and insurance are checked before they can quote. The van’s number plate and the site your waste is going to are recorded before it leaves, you get a waste transfer note, and the collector is paid only once we’ve seen proof of legal disposal. On top of that, if items are illegally disposed of via this platform, we will cover any fines you incur. How the Zero Fly-Tip Promise works.

If you hire someone yourself, the checks are yours. The law makes you responsible for who takes your household waste. If it’s found dumped and traced back to you, the council can fine you between £150 and £600, even though you didn’t dump it. So:

Look up their waste carrier licence. Our free checker searches the Environment Agency register in seconds.
Write down their name, phone number and van registration.
Ask where your waste is going, and get a receipt that says so.
Be wary of cash-only offers to “take anything”.

Fly-tippers themselves face a fixed penalty of up to £5,000 since 1 September 2026, or prosecution, with an unlimited fine or prison. Fly-tipping fines explained.

Book a checked collector through scrapmarket

Post your job free, with photos: one sofa, a garden’s worth of bags or a whole house. Checked, licensed collectors quote, you pick one, and you pay once it’s gone.

Some things we can’t take, such as asbestos, plasterboard, tyres, paint and chemicals: see the full list. The recycling centres take several of them.

Questions

Is the Birmingham bin strike over?

Not when we last checked, on 9 October 2026. The council’s leader said on 6 October that it was very close to resolving the dispute. A deal needs the council’s cabinet and Unite’s members to agree it. The council’s strike page has the latest.

Will the council collect my sofa or other bulky items?

Not at the moment. Birmingham City Council isn’t taking new bulky waste bookings, though collections booked before the pause still go ahead. You can take bulky items to a recycling centre or a Mobile Household Waste Centre, or post the job for a checked collector.

Can I put extra bags out next to my bin?

Don’t rely on it. The council’s strike FAQ says it takes a reasonable amount of extra waste in black bags placed neatly next to the bin, but its rubbish bin page says extra bags won’t be collected. The safe option is a recycling centre or a Mobile Household Waste Centre.

What do I do with my recycling?

Don’t put the blue-lid bin out. Take recycling to one of the five recycling centres, or keep it until collections return. In the North Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield waste pilot, recycling is collected every other week once the council has written to you.

Is my garden waste being collected?

No. The council’s garden waste service is suspended until further notice. The recycling centres take green garden waste.

Can I take a van to the tip?

Yes, with a van booking, at any centre except Kings Norton while it’s rebuilt. Vans over 2.1 metres high can only use Tyseley. The Mobile Household Waste Centres aren’t taking waste from vans during the strike.

Can I be fined if someone I paid fly-tips my rubbish?

Yes. If you didn’t take all reasonable steps to check they were allowed to take it, the council can fine you between £150 and £600. Booking through scrapmarket means the checks are done for you. Your duty of care explained.

How do I check a waste carrier’s licence?

Search the Environment Agency’s public register, or use our free checker, with the name or registration number they give you.

Sources

Birmingham City Council: Industrial action in the waste service, one year on from the start of the all-out strike, published 11 March 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Express & Star (Local Democracy Reporting Service): Birmingham City Council ‘very close’ to resolving bins strike, published 6 October 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Waste and recycling industrial action, FAQ for residents, last updated 29 July 2025. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Industrial action FAQ, bin collection information, last updated 6 June 2025. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Industrial action FAQ, alternative ways to dispose of your waste, last updated 24 March 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Check your collection day, last updated 3 July 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: When to put your bins out, last updated 19 June 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Your rubbish bin, last updated 29 July 2025. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Waste pilot, last updated 16 September 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Bulky waste collection, last updated 1 April 2025. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Garden waste collection, last updated 9 September 2025. Checked 9 October 2026.
Veolia Birmingham: Household recycling and reuse centres, modified 2 October 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Mobile Household Waste Centres, last updated 24 April 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Mobile Household Waste Centre dates and locations, last updated 30 September 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Birmingham City Council: Report fly-tipping, last updated 25 September 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.
Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 34ZA (England): householder fixed penalty. Checked 9 October 2026.
Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 33ZA (England): fixed penalty for fly-tipping, £5,000 maximum in force since 1 September 2026 (SI 2026/816). Checked 9 October 2026.
Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 33 (England): fly-tipping offence and penalties. Checked 9 October 2026.

Last updated 9 October 2026. Facts last checked 9 October 2026.

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