Households in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, must now have their refuse bins ready for collection by 5:00am. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council confirmed the change in February 2026 to help crews finish their rounds before the morning traffic builds up.
Refuse bins should be available from 5:00am, while recycling and compost bins should be available from 6:00am, the council says. Residents are encouraged to put their bins out the night before, but not before 5:00pm, to reduce the chance of them being missed.
Under the council’s missed-bin policy, a bin that was not presented by the stated collection time is not classed as a “missed” bin and will not be collected until the next scheduled collection day. If, however, the council misses a bin that was correctly presented, they say they will return to collect it within three working days.
The changes come as the council and its contractor, Urbaser, prepare for the government’s Simpler Recycling reforms coming into force in April 2026, which will require councils to collect the same core dry recyclable materials and rework collection rounds and logistics.
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