From 10 November 2025, West Dunbartonshire Council will be changing the way household bins are collected. Sampling has shown that up to 70% of items placed in the general waste bin could be recycled. These changes will help to increase recycling rates, reduce taxes we pay on waste and improve the efficiency of our waste services.
How Your Bin Collections Are Changing
Your household will continue to receive a weekly collection. This will be on a three-week rolling basis with two recycling collections and one general waste collection in each three-week period.
Every household will receive a pack containing all the information you need. This will include a calendar which should be referred to on a week-by-week basis to ensure you are presenting the correct bin. Within the pack, there will also be a sticker which must be attached to your general waste bin to ensure it is collected.
This sticker is weatherproof and tamper-proof and should be placed on the back of your black or green general waste bin, underneath the handles.
Please note, only bins with this sticker will be collected. If you have an additional general waste bin but do not have a specific need for it (as outlined below), it will not be collected by our crews.
Requirement for Additional Bins and Special Circumstances
If you have a large family, children in nappies, or clinical waste, you can apply for an extra bin. If you already have a second bin, you can apply for an additional sticker instead. To find out more or to apply, email wasteaware@west-dunbarton.gov.uk.
- Assisted collections will continue as normal. You must still attach the sticker to your general waste bin. Our waste operatives will know which bin is due for collection on a particular day.
- Flats with communal bins will receive a pack with a sticker for their general waste bin. All residents in a communal area should make sure that the communal bins have a sticker. If you live in a multi-storey block, your collections are not affected. You should continue to dispose of your waste as you currently do.
Recycling and Waste
The full details of what can be recycled from home and at communal recycling points are available on our website.
If you find that your blue recycling bin is filling up too quickly, you can request an additional recycling bin free of charge. To request a new bin, please email wasteaware@west-dunbarton.gov.uk.
Addressing Common Concerns
- Will this cause missed collections? Our crews work hard to collect all bins across West Dunbartonshire. This change will not stop missed bins entirely, but if a bin is missed, you can report it using our online Chatbot. This is the quickest and easiest way to be kept informed of our progress. The Chatbot can be accessed on our missed bin page.
- Will this lead to fly-tipping? We do not expect an increase in fly-tipping. Other councils that have made similar changes have not seen an increase. The change in our schedule is simply to encourage residents to recycle more.
- Will this attract vermin? It is unlikely that vermin will be attracted to your bins. Your food waste will continue to be collected every two weeks and many items currently put in your general waste bin can be recycled instead.
- Will my Council Tax be reduced? Council Tax helps to support delivery of a wide range of Council services and all households in Scotland are required to pay unless exempt. Council Tax is not linked to the provision of any one service and therefore a variation to how a service is delivered, in this case waste collections, will not result in a change to Council Tax payments.
- Will civic amenity sites be busier? Based on information from other councils that have made similar changes, we do not expect an increase in demand at the civic amenity sites at Dalmoak and Erskine Ferry Road.
- What if I do not receive my sticker before the new cycle starts? Information packs, including stickers, will be issued from Monday 22 September 2025. If you haven’t received yours by Monday 13 October, please email wasteaware@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
Jim Bollan: A three-week household refuse bin collection is scheduled for next month, courtesy of your Labour Council.
Mary Taylor: We all know where that’s going!
John Todd Margaret Dunn: Shocking going to be a lot of dumping going on place will be a mess x
Janet Mckeen: Yip fly tipping will be at an all time high, rats will be running everywhere!
Lynne Kennedy: Fly tipping is already costing them a fortune and it’s just going to increase …. silly people
Marie Measy Fenwick: Bins are already overflowing since the 2,week collections, seagulls & rats are all over the bins This has got to be stopped , its insane that this is being considered
We know for sure that the Council won’t listen to the public, so maybe Margaret Mcmillan’s suggestion will wake them up: ‘We need to stop paying the council tax everyone.’
Stevie Carson: Council tax going up and services coming down.
Donna Christina: That’s fine. We’ll just have to drop any bags that don’t fit in the bins at the doors of the council. Let them deal with the mess and smell, because why are we paying for services in which we barely receive to end up living in squalor. No thank you!
We invite the Council to reply to these criticisms but while they are being binned we are still banned. What a load of malarky! Editor
Disgraceful.
The general waste bin is already full after 2 weeks, even after fully recycling all the items we can.
There’s only so much you can fit in a wheelie bin.
This is all about cutbacks.
We’ve just requested a sticker for our second bin and now have to reapply for a second bin all over again! Thanks WDC! Lets not forget that this is happening to us partly through mismanagement by the council but also mismanagement by the Scottish Government. Landfill is now being exported to England because the incinerators the SNP want are not ready and they refuse to allow anymore landfill. We’ve got the Scottish Government Elections in May next year and then a full set of Council Elections the year after. Need I say more!