Where our public bin data comes from
The map has 132,361 public bins. 51,895 records come from 22 council open datasets. The rest come from OpenStreetMap, where volunteers map bins in their own streets.
- Public bins on the map
- 132,361
- Council datasets
- 22
- Bins that take dog waste
- 20,962
- Bins with a location note
- 42,823
Public bin datasets
Thank you to each council that publishes its street-bin records as open data, and to everyone who maps bins in OpenStreetMap.
A bin found in both a council dataset and OpenStreetMap counts once on the map and once for each source in this table.
How we check the data
- 1. Keep the source copy
Each refresh saves the raw council or OpenStreetMap records with a checksum. If a council feed is down, the map keeps the last good copy.
- 2. Read every field
We read the bin type, such as litter, dog waste or communal, and the location note from each council's own field names.
- 3. Clean the location notes
Council notes are often in capitals or short forms, such as "OPP NO 12 HIGH ST". A script removes values that are not places, such as "pole" or "ground". A language model then fixes capital letters and typos. A strict check rejects any change that adds a word, number or place that is not in the source.
- 4. Remove duplicates
When a council record and an OpenStreetMap record are within 5 metres, we show one bin.
- 5. Check before publishing
The build rejects invalid coordinates and identifiers. A large drop in records stops the release so a person can check it.
We do not add details that the source does not give. If a council does not say what type a bin is, we do not guess. OpenStreetMap waste baskets count as litter bins unless they are tagged for dog waste.
Other datasets
- NHSBSA Consolidated Pharmaceutical List
NHS Business Services Authority. active community and local pharmaceutical service pharmacies in England; pharmacy addresses and contracted weekly opening hours; unwanted medicine and inhaler return points.
Contains NHSBSA information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
- Podback coffee pod drop-off points
Podback. coffee pod drop-off points; store names, addresses, coordinates and Podback bag availability.
Podback
- Local Authority Districts April 2025 names, codes and boundaries
Office for National Statistics. current local authority district names and codes; local authority boundary matching.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
- Built-up Area to Local Authority District lookup December 2022
Office for National Statistics. Great Britain settlement names; settlement to local authority district lookup.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
- OS Code-Point Open
Ordnance Survey. current postcode unit coordinates in England, Scotland and Wales; static postcode search shards.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right [release year]Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and Database right [release year]Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right [release year]
Postcode search
Great Britain postcode searches use OS Code-Point Open files stored on this site. If a valid postcode is missing, the browser can use Postcodes.io. Northern Ireland postcode search is not available because Code-Point Open does not cover BT postcodes.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and Database right 2026. Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Bin collection dates
A collection lookup service supplies address and collection results. The lookup shows a warning when a result is cached, estimated or unavailable. Collection types, colours and rules stay unknown until the council source returns them.
Attribution
© OpenStreetMap contributors. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.