Trafford collects as normal on the bank holiday, 31 August. Black and blue bins are four-weekly, grey fortnightly, and garden waste costs £50 a year.

Trafford runs four wheeled bins on three different cycles, and two of them are emptied only once every four weeks. That is unusual, and it is the thing most people get wrong.

The council publishes the frequencies, but it does not publish a bank holiday policy. Its only page on the subject covers Christmas. The answer for every other bank holiday is buried in the round calendars, so we read them.

Checked on 26 August 2026.

Do bins go out on the August bank holiday?

Yes. Monday 31 August 2026 is a normal collection day in Trafford.

Both Monday round calendars list 31 August as a collection date (Monday A, Monday B). Which bin depends on your round:

  • Monday A rounds: grey bin, plus the weekly green bin or caddy.
  • Monday B rounds: blue bin, plus the weekly green bin or caddy.

The same holds for every other bank holiday in the current calendar year. These dates all appear as ordinary collection days:

  • Good Friday, 3 April 2026 (Friday rounds)
  • Easter Monday, 6 April 2026
  • Early May bank holiday, Monday 4 May 2026
  • Spring bank holiday, Monday 25 May 2026
  • Summer bank holiday, Monday 31 August 2026

Christmas and New Year are the only exceptions. In the 2025 calendars, Thursday 25 and Friday 26 December were both pushed to Saturday 27 December, and Thursday 1 January moved to Friday 2 January, with the Friday round moving to Saturday 3 January.

One warning about the council’s Christmas page: it still shows the 2025-26 dates, and one row reads “Wednesday 31 January” where the calendars clearly mean 31 December. Do not plan this December around it until it is updated.

The four bins and how often they come

Trafford’s frequencies, from the council’s what goes in which bin guide:

Bin What it takes How often
Black Mixed recycling: cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, foil Every four weeks
Blue Paper and card, including cartons and wrapping paper Every four weeks
Grey Waste you cannot recycle Every two weeks
Green bin or caddy Food waste, and garden waste if you have a permit Every week

The four-weekly gap on black and blue is the part that catches people out. If you miss a black bin, the next one is a month away.

A few rules that are easy to fall foul of:

  • Glass bottles and jars go in the black bin, not the blue one, and lids come off.
  • Black plastic trays are accepted in the black bin. Soft plastics, plastic bags and hard plastics are not, and go in the grey bin or to a recycling centre.
  • Books go in the blue bin. Paper tissues and kitchen towel do not.
  • Crews will not take bags of waste left beside a bin, and will not empty a bin whose lid is not fully closed.

Finding your day, and your round letter

Enter your postcode on the council’s bin collection lookup. It returns your collection day and a link to your round calendar. The calendar file name ends in A or B, and that letter is what tells you which bin comes on which date.

Bins must be out by 6.30am and back on your property within 48 hours, per the council’s putting your bins out page.

Before reporting a missed bin, check the council’s disruptions page, which lists streets the crews already know about. If your street is not on it, report the miss within two working days (report an issue with bins). Leave the bin out after reporting. Miss that window and the council will not return, and you wait for the next scheduled day.

Garden waste costs £50 a year

Garden waste is a paid subscription in Trafford. Food waste is not.

  • £50 per bin for the 2026-27 service year, with £5 off if you subscribe online.
  • Extra bins bought at the same time are £45 each.
  • The service year runs 1 June to 31 May, and there is no pro-rata price. If you join part way through, you pay the full charge.
  • Green bin collections are suspended for one week over Christmas.

You need the permit sticker on the bin before you put garden waste out. Without it, a green bin containing garden waste will not be emptied at all, even though food waste is free. Details on the garden waste collection page.

The council also states it will not give free or discounted permits for leaves that fall from council-owned trees, on the basis that fallen leaves are the responsibility of the property they land on.

Bulky collections and a bigger grey bin

A bulky item collection has a minimum, non-refundable charge of £44.10, which covers up to five items. More items cost extra. It is for households only.

The standard grey bin in Trafford is a slim 140 litres. You can request a larger one at 240 or 360 litres if your household has five or more permanent residents, two or more children in nappies, or a medical condition generating excessive non-recyclable waste. Note what the process involves:

  • A Waste Minimisation Officer visits to carry out a waste audit.
  • If recycling is found in the grey bin during that audit, the request is refused even if you meet the criteria.
  • Approved requests attract an administration and delivery fee, waived where the need is excessive medical waste or someone at home is receiving end-of-life care.
  • Approvals are reviewed every two years.

Recycling centres

Trafford residents can use any of the 19 Recycle for Greater Manchester centres free of charge. No booking is needed. The two in the borough are:

  • Woodhouse Lane Recycling Centre, off Sinderland Road, Altrincham, WA14 5TB
  • Chester Road Recycling Centre, Chester Road, Stretford, M32 9AU

Both open 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, closing only on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

You need a van permit to visit in a van, car-derived van, campervan, pick-up truck or hire van, or when towing a twin-axle trailer. You do not need one for a car, a 4x4 that is not a pick-up, or a single-axle trailer. Vehicles over 5.3m or 3.5 tonnes are not admitted at all.

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