Horsham bin collection days: bins out by 6am, not 8am

Working out your Horsham bin collection day is easier than most people expect, because Horsham District Council runs a postcode checker that gives you the whole year’s calendar in one go. The part that catches people out is not the day, it is the week: general waste and recycling alternate, so half the time the bin you have just wheeled out is the wrong one. Below is how to find your collection day, which bin goes out when, exactly what each one takes, what the garden waste service costs in 2026, and what to do when a collection is missed.

How to find your bin collection day in Horsham

The council publishes a personalised calendar for every property in the district. Enter your postcode on the check your bin collection day page and it returns your collection dates for general waste, recycling, food waste and garden waste.

There are two other ways to keep track:

• The council’s mobile app. Search for “Horsham District Council” in the App Store or Google Play. It sends a notification the night before your collection, tells you whether an item can be recycled, and flags delays to your round (council app).
• Email updates. The council runs a bin calendar email list you can join from the same page.

Whichever you use, the timing rule is the same, and it is earlier than many districts: bins out by 6am. Crews work between 6am and 3pm and round times change, so a bin put out at 8am because “they never come before nine” is a bin that gets left (missed bin collections). The personalised calendar itself goes further and says “Collections continue until 4pm across the District”, so do not report a miss at half past three. Put the bin at your normal collection point with the handles facing the road.

Horsham bin collection over Christmas 2026: your moved day

Horsham District Council has now set its Christmas dates. There are no collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day; crews work Bank Holiday Monday 28 December and two extra Saturdays, 2 January and 9 January, and the normal schedule returns in the week commencing Monday 11 January (Our District, November 2026).

The council’s notice gives the shape but not which day your round moves to. The postcode calendar does, with every changed date in bold and labelled “Christmas Schedule”. We ran 20 addresses across the district through it on 13 November 2026, and every address on the same normal day moved the same way:

What that means at the kerb:

• Friday streets are hit hardest. Central Horsham, Southwater and the other Friday rounds lose Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, so they go out on the bank holiday Monday 28 December, again on Monday 4 January, then on Saturday 9 January before Friday 15 January. Causeway (RH12 1HE) runs blue top 18 December, green top 28 December, blue top 4 January, green top 9 January.
• Thursday streets go out on a Saturday. Roffey, Broadbridge Heath and Mannings Heath have a normal Christmas Eve collection, then Saturday 2 January and Friday 8 January.
• Monday to Wednesday rounds slip one day for two weeks, so Henfield and Steyning are on Tuesdays, Storrington and Pulborough on Wednesdays, and Billingshurst, Slinfold and Rudgwick on Thursdays until the week of 11 January.
• The bins keep alternating. Nothing is skipped: each moved date carries the bin that was due, so count on from your last normal collection.
• Food waste moves too. The orange-top caddy is on every moved date on every calendar we checked.
• No garden waste for two weeks. The council suspends it from the week commencing 21 December and restarts on 4 January. On the calendars, subscribers’ brown bins drop out of the weeks of 21 and 28 December and come back on the moved day in the week of 4 January (Thursday 7 January at East Street, Billingshurst; Saturday 9 January at Newlands Road, Horsham).

If you cannot use the online calendar, the council will post a printed copy if you ring 01403 733144. Dog bins and litter bins are emptied as normal through Christmas week. Tip opening and the full three-year history are on our Horsham Christmas bin collections page.

Horsham bin collection day by village

Bin days in Horsham district run Monday to Friday, and the round moves across the district through the week. We ran one address in each of eleven places through the council’s own postcode calendar on 17 October 2026. This is what came back for the week of 19 October:

Food waste went out with every one of them, every week. Each address then alternates fortnightly, so the bin shown above comes round again two weeks later (Henfield’s next blue top is Monday 2 November, Southwater’s Friday 6 November), with the other bin out in the week between.

Three things stand out from running the checker:

• Your neighbours can be on the opposite week. Causeway and Elm Grove are both Friday streets in central Horsham, but on 23 October one puts out the blue top and the other the green top. So “it’s recycling week” from someone a few roads away tells you nothing.
• The calendar now runs a year ahead. On 17 October every address we checked stopped at 27 November. By 13 November the council had extended it to early December 2027, with the Christmas dates loaded, so you can now see a full year of your own dates.
• Changes show in bold. The council says a collection printed in bold “indicates a change to the normal collection arrangements”. None of the eleven calendars had a bold entry before Christmas; the first bold dates are the Christmas schedule above.

Garden waste shows on the calendar only if that address subscribes, on the same day as the blue top. These are single addresses, not whole villages: the only way to be sure of your own day is your own postcode on the council checker.

More Horsham villages: bin days for the next two weeks

The eleven addresses above cover the big settlements. On 24 October 2026 we ran thirteen more villages through the same council calendar and listed the next two collections for each, by date rather than “this week”, because the bin that is due flips every week:

Food waste went out at every address every week. Two things are worth knowing from this second batch:

• West Chiltington is a Friday village, not a Tuesday one like neighbouring Storrington and Pulborough, at least on Broadford Bridge Road. Do not assume your day from the nearest big village.
• Steyning and Bramber are both Mondays but on opposite weeks at the streets we checked, the same split we found between Causeway and Elm Grove in Horsham town.

None of the thirteen calendars showed a collection in bold, the council’s marker for a changed date, and every one still ended on 27 November when we read them. So nothing moved for half term or Bonfire Night. The Christmas dates were loaded by 13 November and are in the table above.

Which bin goes out which week

Horsham runs an alternate weekly service for the two big bins, with food waste on top of it every week:

Your food waste bin is collected weekly on the same day as whichever of the two main bins is due that week, so you only ever have one collection day to remember (food waste).

What goes in the green top bin

The green top bin is for household waste that genuinely cannot be recycled. The council lists the most common contents as nappies, dog waste and non-recyclable packaging. Excess waste left in bags beside the bin will not be taken (general waste bin).

Several things must stay out of it: hazardous waste such as fire extinguishers, asbestos and electrical items, medical waste including syringes and stoma bags, business waste, DIY rubble, garden waste, large appliances and food waste. Each has its own route, listed on the council’s page.

If your household genuinely cannot fit into a standard bin, you can apply for a larger one. It costs £60.50 and requires a waste assessment, and you have to meet the criteria: five or more permanent residents, three or more children in nappies, or medical needs. Larger bins cannot simply be bought. Applications go through customer services on 01403 733144.

What goes in the blue top bin

This is where Horsham does better than several neighbouring districts, because glass bottles and jars go in the kerbside recycling bin rather than a bring bank. Everything must be clean, loose and dry, and never bagged. The recycling bin page sets out the full list:

• Paper and card: newspapers, magazines, office paper, greeting cards, egg and cereal boxes, catalogues, envelopes, and wrapping paper if it scrunches. Not shredded paper, tissues or paper towels.
• Metal: food, drink and pet food cans, biscuit and sweet tins, empty aerosols, foil blister packs. Not paint tins, saucepans, gas canisters or batteries.
• Plastic: all plastic bottles, all pots such as yoghurt and ice cream tubs, food trays in all colours, lids attached to squashed empty bottles, non-black plant pots at least 40mm across, and squeezy toothpaste tubes. Not films, bags, crisp packets, polystyrene or garden plastics.
• Foil and cartons: aluminium foil, foil containers, clean takeaway containers, fruit juice, milk and soup cartons.
• Glass: coffee jars, wine and beer bottles, jam jars, sauce bottles. Not mirror or window glass, Pyrex, drinking glasses, ceramics or crockery.

Soft plastics such as bread bags and crisp packets are not collected but are taken back by many supermarkets. Batteries and small electricals, including vapes, must never go in either bin: the council runs a free batteries recycling service and a free small electricals collection.

Food waste: now district wide

Weekly food waste collections have been rolled out across the whole district. You get a small kitchen caddy and a lockable grey and orange outdoor bin, and it takes both cooked and raw food: meat including bones, fish and shellfish, dairy, fruit and vegetable peelings, bread and cakes, rice and pasta, plate scrapings, tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells, solid fats, pet food and out of date food.

What it will not take is packaging of any kind, oils and liquids, animal bedding, flowers, and above all plastic bags. Line the kitchen caddy with a compostable liner, kitchen roll or newspaper. A bin with the wrong contents in it will simply not be emptied.

The collected waste goes to the Horsham Anaerobic Digestion Plant, run on behalf of West Sussex County Council, where it becomes biofertiliser for local farms and renewable energy. The service is funded through your council tax rather than charged separately, with central government having covered the set up costs.

Is there a Horsham bin collection calendar 2026 PDF?

No, and it is worth saying plainly because a lot of people go looking for one. Horsham District Council does not publish a district-wide printable calendar. Bin days vary street by street, so there is nothing sensible to put in a single PDF.

What exists instead, checked on 22 September 2026:

• The postcode search. “To view the bin collection calendar for your property, use the postcode search below,” is how the council puts it on its check your bin collection day page. Enter your postcode, pick your address, and you get your own year’s dates for general waste, recycling, food waste and garden waste. Print that page if you want paper on the fridge.
• Bin calendar email updates. A sign-up on the same page that sends your dates to your inbox.
• The council app. It sends a notification the night before, tells you whether an item can be recycled and flags delays to your round.

If a site is offering you a downloadable “Horsham bin calendar 2026 PDF”, it is not the council’s, and a generic one cannot know whether your street is on a green-top or a blue-top week.

Horsham bin collection this autumn: what has changed

Checked against the council’s pages on 2 October 2026, and again on 17 and 24 October:

• Garden waste sign-ups are paused. The council’s garden waste page now says “Garden Waste sign ups are temporarily unavailable”. Existing subscribers are not affected and collections carry on fortnightly; if you were about to join, check the page again before ringing 01403 733144.
• Christmas dates are out. No collections on 25 and 26 December or 1 January; crews work the bank holiday Monday 28 December plus Saturdays 2 and 9 January, and normal days return from 11 January. Your moved day is in the Christmas table above.
• The first electric bin lorry is on order. The council has approved £475,000 for its first electric refuse vehicle. Your collection day does not change because of it.
• Food waste is now weekly everywhere in the district, after the spring 2026 roll-out, on the same day as whichever main bin is due.
• The council app was updated on 14 October. The new version adds a recycling checker: point your phone camera at an item and it tells you which bin it goes in. The council says it will also push notices about collection day changes, “including over the Christmas period”, so it is the quickest way to hear about the festive dates. Existing users need to update the app (council news, 14 October 2026).
• Garden waste sign-ups were still paused on 24 October, but by 13 November the “temporarily unavailable” notice had gone from the council’s garden waste page, which again shows a “Sign up to the service” link at £64 a year. The terms still say registration is suspended in December and January while renewals are processed, so sign up before December if you want it.

Garden waste: £64 a year in 2026

Garden waste is the one collection you pay extra for. The subscription costs £64 a year, runs from 1 April to 31 March, and buys 25 fortnightly collections, with the service suspended for two weeks over Christmas (garden waste terms and conditions 2026/7).

A few things are worth knowing before you sign up:

• The bin is extra. If you do not already have one, a 240 litre garden waste bin (green sides, brown lid) costs £60.50.
• Extra bins cost a full subscription each, at £64 per bin per year.
• There is no discount for joining part way through the year, and no refund if you change your mind later, beyond the statutory 14 working day cancellation window.
• Label the bin. Your house name or number must be clearly visible on the back of the bin, below the handles. An unlabelled bin cannot be matched to a subscription and will not be emptied.
• Renewals close the sign up window. Registration is suspended during December and January while the council processes renewals.

Prunings, grass cuttings, leaves, weeds, flowers, old compost and branches no thicker than your wrist can go in, loose and never bagged. Soil, stones, pet bedding, household rubbish, food waste and anything labelled compostable cannot. Sign up on the garden waste collections page.

If you would rather not pay, garden waste is accepted free at the recycling centres below.

The two recycling centres in the district

There are two household waste recycling sites inside the Horsham district, both run by West Sussex County Council rather than the district council:

• Hop Oast, Worthing Road, Horsham, RH13 0AR, on the same site as the Horsham park and ride. Open Monday and Thursday to Sunday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Telephone 01403 253016 (West Sussex County Council, Horsham recycling centre).
• Billingshurst, Newbridge Road, Billingshurst, RH14 9HZ. Open Saturday to Wednesday, closed Thursday and Friday. Telephone 01403 785614 (West Sussex County Council, Billingshurst recycling centre).

You have to book a slot before you go. Both sites are reservation only, and this is the single thing that sends people home with a full boot. Hours are 9am to 6pm from 1 April to 30 September and 9am to 4pm from 1 October to 31 March on the days each site opens. Note that the two are closed on opposite days, so between them there is a site open somewhere in the district every day of the week.

You also need proof that you live in West Sussex to get in, and you will be turned away without it.

Some vehicles are barred outright at both sites: Luton type vans, horseboxes, twin axle trailers, tippers, flatbeds and drop sides, anything over 3.5 tonnes gross, and anything over 2.2 metres tall. You cannot turn up on foot either, for safety reasons.

Both take bulky household refuse, garden waste, batteries, fridges and freezers, tyres, gas bottles, fluorescent tubes, engine oil and small quantities of hazardous waste (recycling centres).

Large items: £32 for the first, £27 each after that

Anything too big for the bin can be collected from outside your home through the council’s large item collection, checked 2 October 2026:

• Price: £32 for the first item and £27 for each additional item, so two items cost £59. Up to eight items per booking.
• Discounts: half price if you receive full housing benefit and Council Tax Support; free if you receive full benefits and are of state pension age.
• What it takes: beds, mattresses, wardrobes, tables, fridges and freezers, cookers, washing machines, TVs, bikes, lawnmowers (with the petrol drained), radiators and doors without glass.
• Sofas and armchairs are a separate booking. Under government rules on upholstered seating, sofas, armchairs, upholstered dining and office chairs, footstools, futons and bean bags go through the council’s upholstered furniture collection instead.
• Put items out by 6am on the collection day, at the front of the property. Crews will not come inside.

If your bin is missed

Before reporting anything, the council asks you to check four things: was the bin out by 6am, was it the right day, was it at your collection point, and did it contain the right materials. A green top bin with garden waste in it, or a recycling bin with non-recyclables, will be left deliberately, and the crew normally hangs a tag on the bin to tell you why. In those cases they will not come back.

If none of that applies, report it through the report a missed collection form. The deadline is tight: 12 noon on the day after your scheduled collection, or noon on the Monday if your day is a Friday. The council aims to collect within 24 hours of a genuine miss.

In snow, ice or other adverse weather, crews will try to collect and will catch up as soon as it is safe. There is no separate reporting route for weather delays (bin collections in adverse weather).

Assisted collections

If nobody at the property is physically able to move the bins to the collection point, the council provides free assisted collections. A crew member fetches the bin from a location you nominate and returns it after emptying. The nominated point has to be reachable from 6am, and the service is not available to properties on communal bins. Apply by calling the customer care team on 01403 733144 (assisted bin collections).

Frequently asked questions

Where do I get my Horsham bin calendar?

Horsham District Council does not print a single district-wide bin calendar, because rounds vary street by street. Instead, enter your postcode on the check your bin collection day page and it returns a personalised calendar covering general waste, recycling, food waste and garden waste for the whole year. You can download or print it, join the email list, or use the council’s free app for a reminder the night before.

How do I check my bin collection day in Horsham?

Enter your postcode on the council’s check your bin collection day page and it returns your personalised calendar. The council’s free app does the same and sends a reminder the night before.

What day are bins collected in Horsham?

Monday to Friday, depending on where you live. When we checked eleven addresses on 17 October 2026, Henfield and Cowfold were Monday, Storrington and Pulborough Tuesday, Billingshurst Wednesday, Roffey and Broadbridge Heath Thursday, and central Horsham and Southwater Friday. Streets near each other can differ, so check your own postcode.

When are bins collected in Steyning, Rudgwick and the other villages?

From the council calendar on 24 October 2026: Steyning, Bramber, Partridge Green and Small Dole on Monday; Ashington and Thakeham on Tuesday; Slinfold, Rudgwick, Warnham and Barns Green on Wednesday; Mannings Heath on Thursday; West Chiltington on Friday. Streets in the same village can be on opposite weeks, so check your own postcode.

When are Horsham bins collected over Christmas 2026?

Not on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day. Every round moves: Monday collections go to Tuesday 29 December and Tuesday 5 January, Tuesday to Wednesday 30 December and 6 January, Wednesday to Thursday 31 December and 7 January, Thursday to Saturday 2 January and Friday 8 January, and Friday to Monday 28 December, Monday 4 January and Saturday 9 January. Normal days return in the week of 11 January. Garden waste stops from 21 December and restarts on 4 January.

Which bin goes out this week in Horsham?

General waste and recycling alternate. One week the green top bin goes out, the next week the blue top. Food waste is collected every week alongside whichever of the two is due. The postcode checker and the app both tell you which is next.

What time do I need to put my bin out in Horsham?

By 6am. Crews collect between 6am and 3pm and round times change through the year, so a bin put out later than 6am risks being missed, and a late bin is not treated as a missed collection.

Does Horsham collect glass in the recycling bin?

Yes. Glass bottles and jars go straight into the blue top recycling bin, along with paper, card, cans, foil, cartons and plastic bottles, pots and trays. Window glass, Pyrex, drinking glasses and crockery are not accepted.

How much does garden waste collection cost in Horsham?

£64 a year for 25 fortnightly collections, running 1 April to 31 March, with a two week break at Christmas. If you need a bin as well it is £60.50. There is no part year discount and no refund once the statutory cancellation window has passed.

Do I need to book to use Hop Oast or Billingshurst tip?

Yes. Both West Sussex recycling centres are booking only, so reserve a slot before you set off. Hop Oast is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Billingshurst is closed Thursday and Friday, and both run 9am to 6pm from April to September and 9am to 4pm from October to March.

Can I sign up for Horsham garden waste collection now?

Yes, as of 13 November 2026. Sign-ups were paused through October, but the council’s garden waste page now carries a “Sign up to the service” link again, at £64 a year plus £60.50 if you need a bin. Registration is normally suspended in December and January while renewals are processed.

How much is a large item collection in Horsham?

£32 for the first item and £27 for each extra one, up to eight items. Sofas and other upholstered seating need a separate upholstered furniture booking.

What do I do if Horsham District Council misses my bin?

Check first that the bin was out by 6am, on the right day, at the right point and with the right contents. If it was, report it on the council’s missed collection form by 12 noon the following day, or by noon on Monday for a Friday collection. The council aims to return within 24 hours.

Is there a printable Horsham bin collection calendar?

Only a personal one. The council’s postcode search returns your property’s own calendar, which you can print from the page, and there is a bin calendar email sign-up and an app that notifies you the night before. There is no district-wide PDF, because collection days differ from street to street.

Sources

• Horsham District Council, Our District, November 2026: your bin collections over Christmas and New Year
• Horsham District Council, check your bin collection day
• Horsham District Council, what goes in your general waste bin and recycling bin
• Horsham District Council, food waste
• Horsham District Council, garden waste collections and the 2026/7 terms and conditions
• Horsham District Council, missed bin collections and assisted collections
• Horsham District Council, recycling centres
• Horsham District Council, bin collections in adverse weather

Recycling centre days, hours, booking rule and vehicle restrictions are West Sussex County Council’s, checked on 15 August 2026. Prices and rules are otherwise those published by Horsham District Council for 2026/27. The council does not publish a district wide bank holiday table, only a notice of the days crews work, so the Christmas 2026 table above is our reading of the postcode calendar; check your own address before a bank holiday rather than assuming your normal day holds. Last checked against the council’s own pages, including the postcode calendar for eleven sample addresses on 17 October 2026, thirteen more village addresses on 24 October 2026, and 20 addresses for the Christmas schedule on 13 November 2026.

Image: green and blue lidded wheelie bins out for collection in Great Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire. It is not a photograph of Horsham, and is used to show the kerbside bins themselves rather than any particular street.