During a bin strike, a private collection can clear a backlog that cannot wait. It is a separate booking with a business: it does not replace the council service, reduce your council tax or give you a right to have the cost repaid.

Check the council’s disruption advice first

Councils usually publish temporary arrangements during industrial action, such as which bins will still be emptied, where extra bags can go and whether bulky-waste or garden-waste services are paused. Read the current notice for your address before paying anyone. It may turn out that general waste is still collected weekly and only recycling is delayed.

Describe the backlog, not “a bin clearance”

Count the bags and note anything that is not ordinary household rubbish, such as furniture, electrical items, garden waste or loose material. Say whether waste is inside a wheelie bin, beside it or elsewhere on the property, and mention steps, gates or parking limits.

Take photos from a safe distance. Nobody should open or sort through split bags to show what is inside.

Ask how the collector will take the waste. Many van-based services remove bags by hand rather than lifting and tipping a wheelie bin, so confirm what their vehicle can actually do.

Get a confirmed slot and a complete price

Ask whether the time offered is a firm appointment, a collection window or a provisional slot that depends on other bookings. Demand and queues at disposal sites can change quickly during a strike. Agree in writing what happens if the collector cannot attend, and whether waiting time, extra volume or a second visit would cost more.

Check who is taking the waste

In England, householders must take reasonable steps to give their waste only to someone authorised to take it. The government’s duty of care code says that when you use a private business, you should check it holds a current upper-tier waste carrier registration. Check the business name on the Environment Agency register matches the business taking payment.

A strike does not remove the need for a lawful destination. Keep recycling separate unless the collector confirms how it will be handled.

Street collections: keep individual records

Neighbours can ask one collector to quote for several addresses on the same day. Each household should still have its own agreed list, price and receipt. If one person collects money for the group, agree in advance what happens if an item is refused or the visit is cancelled.

To compare options, you can request a quote through Compare Waste Removal; if a local registered collector can take the job, they or we will contact you.

Do not assume the council will pay you back

Book a private collection because it solves a defined problem, such as clearing bags before a family event, not because you expect a refund later. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman says councils do not give council tax refunds for missed collections and it does not expect them to. A complaint about poor service is a separate route and depends on the facts.

The bottom line

Read the council’s strike advice, describe the load accurately, get the slot and full price in writing, and check the carrier’s upper-tier registration. Treat the cost as your own unless the council has put a specific refund arrangement in writing.

Sources

This guide draws on the following sources, checked on 30 September 2026:

• Defra / GOV.UK, “Waste duty of care code of practice”
• GOV.UK, “Dispose of household waste”
• Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, “Waste and refuse”

Related guides

Compare Waste Removal is an independent guide. We may earn a fee from some links; this never affects what we write. This is general information, not legal advice.