Green top and blue top alternate, and Horsham crews start at 6am, so an 8am bin is left. Your day by postcode, what goes in each bin, garden waste £64 a year.

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). Put the bin at your normal collection point with the handles facing the road.

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:

Horsham District Council household bin collections
BinWhat it is forHow often
Green topGeneral, non-recyclable household wasteEvery other week
Blue topAll dry recycling, including glassEvery other week, alternating with the green top
Grey and orangeFood wasteWeekly
Green with brown lidGarden waste (paid subscription)Fortnightly, 25 collections a year

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.

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:

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).

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.

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.

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

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 collection schedule, so check the postcode calendar or the council app in the run up to a bank holiday rather than assuming your normal day holds. Last checked against the council’s own pages on 4 August 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.