Stroud collects Tuesday to Friday, so bank holidays never shift a bin. Garden waste is £58.50, bulky waste £25 for three items, and missed bins must be reported in two days.
Stroud District Council will tell you your next collection date if you type in a postcode. It will not tell you why a bank holiday makes no difference here, which bin the glass goes in, what the brown bin costs this year, or how long you have to report a bin the lorry drove past.
This page puts the whole cluster in one place. Every figure was checked on 1 September 2026 against the council’s own pages and its published waste policy, both linked beside each fact.
Bank holidays do not move Stroud collections
Most councils slide a whole week of rounds when a bank holiday falls on a Monday. Stroud does not need to, and the reason is in its own policy document.
“Normally refuse and recycling collection days will take place between Tuesday and Fridays, with the exception of garden waste and bulky waste collections which take place between Monday and Friday.”
Because there is no Monday refuse round in the district, a Monday bank holiday hits nothing. The policy states it plainly: “Generally, refuse, recycling and food waste collections are unaffected by bank holidays due to collections taking place Tuesday to Friday. Garden waste and bulky collections continue on bank holidays.” (Stroud District Council, Supplementary Waste Collection Policy, section 4)
Easter is covered by the same rule. The council confirmed it in writing: “There will be no change to Stroud District Council’s waste and recycling collections over the Easter holiday. Waste and recycling should be put out as normal, including Good Friday and Easter Monday.” (Stroud District Council, 14 April 2025)
The one caveat: the policy says any exception “will be publicised”, so check the council’s service updates before a bank holiday week if you want to be certain.
Christmas is the only time the dates change
Three days a year stop collections: Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Anyone whose round falls on one of those gets an alternative day, published on a revised calendar through the My House lookup nearer the time.
One detail worth remembering in January: “Residents are permitted to present one additional bag on their first refuse collection after Christmas.” (Waste policy, section 4)
The Christmas 2026 calendar had not been published when this page was written. It normally appears on the My House lookup in December.
The five containers, and what goes in each
| Container | What it takes | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Grey wheeled bin, 140 litres | Rubbish that cannot be recycled | Every two weeks |
| Green wheeled bin, 240 litres | Metals, glass, plastic packaging, cartons | Every two weeks |
| Green recycling box, 44 litres | Paper and cardboard only | Every two weeks |
| Grey food waste bin, 23 litres (5 litre kitchen caddy indoors) | All food waste | Every week |
| Brown wheeled bin, 180 litres | Garden waste, £58.50 a year | Every two weeks, February to November |
The split between the green bin and the green box catches people out, because it is the reverse of what most councils do. Glass bottles and jars go in the green wheelie bin, along with food and drink cans, pet food cans, foil, aerosols and biscuit tins, plastic bottles, tubs, pots, punnets and food trays, and drinks cartons. Newspapers, magazines, junk mail, envelopes, wrapping paper and all cardboard go in the green box. Large pieces of cardboard should be folded or cut to about the size of the box and placed underneath. (Green wheelie bin and box)
Recycling goes in loose. The council asks residents not to use plastic bags for it.
The green containers do not take:
- scrap metal, cutlery, car batteries, Pyrex, window and mirror glass or light bulbs
- crisp packets, pet food pouches, plastic wrappers, carrier bags and cling film
- polystyrene, plastic toys, large plastic items such as buckets
- kitchen roll, tissue paper, drinking glasses and spectacles
- foil, synthetic or glittered wrapping paper
Batteries and vapes are collected weekly beside the food waste, not in either green container. (Green wheelie bin and box)
The grey bin is 140 litres, which is smaller than the 180 or 240 litres most districts issue, and the council has ruled out offering other sizes. Its answer is that swapping bins as households change size “wouldn’t be an efficient use of the council’s resources”. The lid must close, and anything left beside or on top of the bin will not be taken. (Grey wheelie bin)
There are two exceptions to that. Households of six or more people can ask for one roll of 26 council sacks a year, one extra bag per fortnight, but only if they can show the recycling service is already fully used. Residents with clinical or medical waste get a separate weekly or fortnightly collection. (Waste policy, sections 17 and 22)
If your property cannot take a wheelie bin
Steep tracks and narrow lanes are common across the Five Valleys, and the council issues beige sacks where a wheeled bin will not work. The allowance is fixed: 78 sacks a year, a maximum of three per fortnight, restocked each November or December.
Present more than three and none of them will be collected, and the council says it cannot supply extras. Black sacks put out alongside will also be left. (Beige rubbish sacks)
Everything out by 6am
Collection times vary, so the deadline is early: containers must be at the kerbside by 6am on the day, at the edge of the property where the drive or gate meets the pavement. Waste must not go out before 9pm the night before.
Assisted collections are available where a long-term illness, infirmity or disability means nobody in the household can get the bins out. (Waste policy, sections 4 and 11)
Garden waste: £58.50, and £78.50 in your first year
The brown bin is a paid subscription running February to November 2026. The 2026 prices:
- £58.50 for the licence, whenever in the year you join
- £20 for the bin itself if you are a new subscriber, so £78.50 in year one
- £48 for the compostable sack service, for properties with access too narrow for a bin, reduced for 2026 only because those collections started on 30 March
- a replacement bin is free; an additional bin is £20
Joining late does not get you a discount. The council is explicit: “All applications will be charged at the full license price (£58.50) no matter what time of year the subscription is made.”
The sack service supplies 50 compostable paper sacks a year, 25 up front and 25 on request, with a maximum of two sacks per collection and 20kg per sack. Collections must be pre-booked.
The 2026 season ends between 23 November and 4 December. There are no refunds. (Garden waste collection service; Brown garden waste bin)
The bin takes grass and hedge cuttings, cut flowers, house plants, weeds, bark, leaves, twigs, branches and prunings up to 10cm across, and untreated sawdust. It does not take kitchen waste, pet waste, large amounts of soil or refuse sacks.
Bulky waste: £25 for three items, £5 for each one after
A bulky collection costs £25 for up to three items, then £5 per additional item, paid by card when you book.
Residents on Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support pay £5 in total for the first three items, with extra items still £5 each. You need your benefit claim reference at the point of booking. Universal Credit does not qualify.
Two practical limits. The crew needs a 3.5 tonne vehicle to reach the property, so check first on 01453 766321 (option 2) or at recycling@stroud.gov.uk if your access is tight. And the list of refusals is long: builders’ waste, DIY waste, kitchen units, bathroom suites, fixtures and fittings, doors and windows, fencing, decking, guttering, radiators, storage heaters, garage doors, sheds, greenhouses, car parts, commercial fridges or cookers, asbestos and gas bottles. (Bulky waste collection service)
Missed bin: report it after 4pm, and within two days
Stroud’s rules on this are stricter than most, and two of them trip people up.
You cannot report a missed bin in the morning. The council will only return if “the report was made after 4pm on the day of collection”. Crews work all day, so an uncollected bin at 10am is not yet a missed bin.
The window is two days. Anything reported later “will only be removed on the next scheduled collection”. The council aims to return within 48 hours once a report stands.
It will not come back at all if the bin went out after 6am, was in the wrong place, was tagged as rejected, was reported overweight or contaminated, or was not a council-issued container. (Waste policy, section 6; Report a missed bin collection)
In snow and ice the advice is to leave the bin out rather than take it back in. The council says crews will empty it “as soon as we are able”.
Replacement bins and boxes
Charges cover administration and delivery, not the container:
| Container | Cost | Collect free from Ebley Mill |
|---|---|---|
| Green recycling wheelie bin | £10.00 | No |
| Grey rubbish wheelie bin (replacement only) | £10.00 | No |
| Recycling box | £10.00 | Yes |
| Recycling box lid | Free | Yes |
| Recycling bag | £10.00 | Yes |
| Food bin or kitchen caddy | Free | Yes |
| Beige rubbish bags (eligible households) | Free | Not applicable |
| Garden waste bin, new or additional subscriber | £20.00 | No |
A container damaged so badly by the contractor that it cannot be safely emptied is replaced free. A stolen one is not, even if you report the theft to the police. Additional grey bins cannot be bought at all. Delivery is within 10 working days, and collection from Ebley Mill has to be booked in advance on 01453 754424. (Waste policy, section 10)
The tip: Pyke Quarry, and you have to book
The district’s own household recycling centre is Pyke Quarry at Horsley, two miles west of the village on the B4058 Wotton-under-Edge Road. Gloucestershire County Council runs it, and every visit must be booked in advance, cars included.
Opening hours are seasonal: 9am to 5pm in British Summer Time, 10am to 4pm in winter. The site is currently open seven days a week, covering for Hempsted in Gloucester while that centre is refurbished, and reverts to six days when Hempsted reopens in mid-November.
Two warnings before you set off. The county council says the site’s postcode is inaccurate and “may send you a mile in the wrong direction”, so search for “Horsley Recycling Centre” instead. And no Gloucestershire centre is accepting fridges or freezers, a suspension that began on 8 August 2026 with no end date. (Gloucestershire Recycles, Pyke Quarry)
The other two sites within reach are Hempsted, Hempsted Lane, Gloucester GL2 6HS, and Fosse Cross, six miles north of Cirencester off the A429, GL54 4NW. All three close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. (Stroud District Council, Recycling centres)
We covered the changes at Pyke Quarry and the fridge suspension in full in Stroud recycling centre now opens 7 days, no fridges.
Find your own collection day
The council’s lookup is at stroud.gov.uk/my-house. Enter a postcode and it returns the next collection and a printable calendar for the year. Customer services can give you the same on 01453 766321.
More Stroud local information: parking in Stroud, council tax bands and roadworks and travel.
Have your say