A bin man has shared the reasons why they might not always collect all of the rubbish or recyclables that have been left out for them, as many might not realise the honest reason
Alice Sjoberg Social News Reporter
13:27, 20 Apr 2026Updated 13:28, 20 Apr 2026
A bin man explained why they don’t always collect all of your rubbish (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)
A bin man working in the UK has explained the reason why they often don’t collect all of the rubbish you’ve left out for them, as there’s a simple reason many may not have thought of.
With all the rules and dates to keep track of when it comes to bin collection, it can be easy to sometimes miss a collection day, or leave more out than fits the bin if you’ve had a clear out in your home.
If this is the case, it can be frustrating to come home only to realise that the bin men haven’t accepted all of the rubbish and recycling that you’ve left out for them. But there’s a reason they might not always accept everything.
To help people understand these rules and regulation, one bin man has made himself known online as ‘The No. 1 Bin man’ for his 169,200 TikTok followers, where he often makes videos answering people’s question as a ‘bin-fluencer’.
In a recent video, he went on to answer the question why bin men might not always accept the extra rubbish bags left out for them next to the bin itself.
“Why don’t bin men take extra white bags off the floor by the right bin?” the user asked the viral bin man.
To this, the refuse worker replied: “Yes, it can be next to the bin, but it’s meant to be in the bin.”
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He continued to explain that if it’s a plastic bag of recycling, they don’t accept that in general, as everything in your recycling bin should be loose, which is one reason why it might not be accepted by the bin men. Secondly, he also said that the plastic bag could contaminate the rest of the load in the rubbish lorry if it’s a plastic bag going into the recycling.
However, if it’s along with general waste, he stated: “You pay for one bin. It’s not an unlimited service because we would fill up every single time. It gives us a certain amount of weight for each round, that’s why we don’t take extras.”
He continued to say that you could request for the bin men to collect extra rubbish or recycling through your local council, which often comes with an extra charge.
“But yes, that’s the reason why, because you don’t pay for it,” the bin man explained, saying that you could also request extra bins through the council if you want to.
If you don’t have the extra bin and you want the rubbish gone as soon as possible, he said you will have to take it to the tip yourself, if you don’t want to request an extra bin.
“Most councils do allow you to have a second recycling bin because it’s better for them,” he explained, as it also helps people to recycle more instead of putting recyclables in the general bin.
However, not all viewers agreed to this, as other bin men went on to say these weren’t rules they were told to follow. One person said: “We have to take all side waste, no matter how much is left out.”
“We have a top recycling gang they take the cardboard off the floor next to the bin,” another user said.
Meanwhile, others explained they lived in areas where extra recyclables would be left behind if not left inside the recycling bin, just like the ‘binfluencer’ said.