The frequency of general waste (grey) bin collections in East Dunbartonshire is changing from 30 March 2025.
As part of the Council’s budget 2024/25 which was approved in March 2024, the Council agreed to change general waste to a three-weekly cycle.
This brings the Council in line with the majority of Scottish local authorities and aims to encourage more recycling, reduce what is sent to landfill and reduce operating costs against the backdrop of continuing financial challenges facing local government and the wider public sector across the UK.
Collection frequency for recycling and garden waste will remain unchanged at two-weekly, and food waste will remain weekly.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions has been prepared and can be found on the Changes to General (grey) bin collections webpage.
Councillor Paul Ferretti, Convener of the Council’s Place, Neighbourhood and Corporate Assets Committee, said, “The financial challenges facing the public sector are widely known. The Council has a challenging budget gap that has to be bridged.
“This was a very difficult decision that we had to take at last year’s budget to ensure the ongoing financial sustainability of the Council.
“The Council has held on until now before making a change, but in the last few years an increasing number of councils in Scotland have moved to three-weekly or even four-weekly collections for general waste.
“As a result, we will also be making some changes to our bin routes which means your collection day may change. We will publish the new routes over the coming weeks on the Bins and Recycling page on our website, so everyone has this information before three-weekly collections are introduced on 30 March.
“A list of street names and new collection dates will also be printed into booklets that will be available to view at any of our Community Hubs.
“The population of East Dunbartonshire is highly engaged when it comes to recycling, with local support typically amongst the highest in the country.
I’d like to say a big thank you to all residents who are currently recycling for their fantastic efforts and I’d encourage others to support and make use of the recycling provisions we offer.
“Residents can also request additional recycling bins at no extra charge to help manage their waste and increase the volume of material that is recycled.
“A recent waste compositional analysis revealed that over 64 per cent of the items being put into grey l bins across East Dunbartonshire could be recycled.
“Remembering to recycle correctly will help us to reduce general waste, reduce the Council’s carbon emissions and achieve both recycling and landfill reduction targets.”
Residents can now recycle more than ever in East Dunbartonshire.
In March 2022, the Council announced a major expansion of the types of plastics that can be included in the brown bin.
As well as plastic bottles such as shampoo, detergent and drink bottles, the Council accepts additional plastics from its kerbside recycling collections including:
- Carrier bags, bread bags and vegetable bags
- Plastic trays from microwave meals, fruit punnets or biscuits
- Plastic tubs such as margarine or ice-cream tubs
- Plastic pots such as those for yogurt, puddings, noodles and soup
- Clean tinfoil.
Any residents who currently cannot access the Council’s recycling facilities are encouraged to get in touch.
You can find a comprehensive list of what can go in each of your bins on our website by visiting the bins and recycling webpage.
Residents can request additional recycling bins online or contact Customer Services on 0300 123 4510.
