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Help and complaints

Bins, recycling and street cleaning

Bin and recycling collections, recycling centres, fly-tipping and street cleaning. This guide explains your rights, where to get urgent help and how to complain.

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SocialCareScore cannot make complaints for you or take up individual cases. Rating a council is not the same as making a complaint. To have something put right, contact the organisation that runs the service.

Your council collects household waste and recycling, provides places to take household waste, keeps streets and roads clear of litter, and clears fly-tipping from public land. Natural Resources Wales deals with serious pollution and larger waste crime.

Who runs this service

Some parts of this service are run by other organisations:

Natural Resources Wales
Deals with serious pollution, illegal waste sites and large-scale waste crime. It also regulates the workplace recycling rules. Source

Getting urgent help

Report serious pollution or large-scale dumping
Call Natural Resources Wales if you see pollution, a fire at a waste site, or large amounts of commercial waste dumped. You can also report online. Source
Telephone: 0300 065 3000 (24 hours a day)
More information
Report fly-tipping
Report fly-tipped household rubbish, or small amounts of commercial waste, to your council. Local authorities deal with fly-tipping on publicly owned land, including roads and lay-bys. Report it to Natural Resources Wales instead if it is on land it manages or in a main river. Do not touch or move the waste. Source
More information

Your rights

Your council must arrange to collect your household waste

The law says each waste collection authority must arrange for household waste in its area to be collected. There are narrow exceptions, for example where a property is so isolated or inaccessible that collection costs would be unreasonably high. No charge can be made for collecting household waste except in cases set out in regulations. Source

Somewhere to take household waste, free of charge

The waste disposal authority must arrange places where residents can deposit their household waste. Those places must be available free of charge to people living in the area. Source

The council can tell you which containers to use

Where the council has a duty to collect your household waste, it can serve a notice telling you what kind of bins, bags or boxes to use and how many. In Wales it can also require separate containers for recyclable and non-recyclable waste. Not following the notice can lead to a penalty, so check your council’s rules. Source

Welsh recycling targets are set in law

Welsh councils have statutory recycling targets. The target for 2024 to 2025 was 70 per cent of municipal waste recycled, prepared for re-use or composted. A council that misses a target can be made to pay a penalty to the Welsh Ministers. Source

Workplaces must separate their recycling

Since 6 April 2024 all workplaces in Wales, including businesses, charities and public bodies, must separate materials such as food, paper and card, glass, and metal, plastic and cartons. Sending food waste to the sewer is banned. Natural Resources Wales regulates the separation rules and local authorities enforce the ban on food waste going to the sewer. Source

Streets and roads should be kept clear of litter

Councils and other duty bodies must keep their land clear of litter and refuse, and keep roads clean, so far as is practicable. Codes of practice set out what this means in practice. Source

How to complain

  1. Report the problem first and keep the reference

    Report a missed collection, a damaged bin or uncollected litter on your council’s website. Note the date, the reference number and what you were told, in case you need it later. Source

    Time limit: Councils often set a short deadline for reporting a missed bin, so report it as soon as you can

  2. Make a formal complaint to the council

    If the problem is not put right, use the council’s complaints procedure. Explain what happened, what you have already reported, and what you would like the council to do. Keep copies of everything you send. Source

  3. Ask for the council’s final response

    Work through the council’s complaints procedure to the end and ask for its final reply in writing. The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales will normally expect you to have complained to the council first. Source

If you are still unhappy

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
Looks at complaints that a council has handled something badly, for example repeated missed collections or poor complaint handling. Source
When: After you have complained to the council and had its final response.
Time limit: Normally within 12 months of the day you first knew about the matter
Telephone: 0300 790 0203
Natural Resources Wales
Regulates waste operations and investigates pollution and serious waste crime. Source
When: If the problem is pollution, an illegal waste site, or large-scale dumping rather than a council service failure.
Telephone: 0300 065 3000
A magistrates’ court (litter complaint)
A person aggrieved by litter or refuse on certain land, or by a road not being kept clean, may be able to complain to a magistrates’ court. The court can make a litter abatement order. Source
When: As a last resort, where land or a road is left defaced by litter and the council has not acted. Get advice first.
Time limit: You must give at least 5 days’ written notice of your intention to make the complaint

Free, independent advice

Natural Resources Wales: reporting fly-tipping
Explains who deals with fly-tipping in Wales and how to report it. Source
Welsh Government: workplace recycling
Guidance on what workplaces in Wales must separate, and what changes in April 2026 for small electrical items. Source
GOV.UK: apply for a special collection of large waste items
Finds your council’s bulky waste service for items such as sofas, fridges and washing machines. Most councils charge a fee. Source

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Last reviewed: 15/09/2026