Speirin at us

Getting started

What is Fan's Yer Bin?

Fan's Yer Bin? is a free, independent web app that shows folk in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney Islands, Clackmannanshire, Scottish Borders, Stirling, East Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, West Lothian, Highland, Fife, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Angus their upcoming bin collection dates — without the faff of navigating council websites. Type your postcode, pick your address, and you're done.

Which areas does it cover?

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney Islands, Clackmannanshire, Scottish Borders, Stirling, East Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, West Lothian, Highland, Fife, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Angus cooncils. Most AB postcodes fall in Aberdeen City or Aberdeenshire — but no' aa o' them. The AB postcode area also reaches intae Moray (Keith, Buckie, Aberlour, Ballindalloch), and we cover thae hooses tae. If yer postcode's served by a different Scottish cooncil, you'll see a clear message sayin so, an' we'll tell ye whit cooncil daes serve ye. We ken every Scottish cooncil by postcode; see the full, up-tae-date list on Coverage.

For a plain-English guide to each council's bins and cycle, see Aberdeen bin collection dates and Aberdeenshire bin collection dates.

How do I look up my collection dates?

1. Type your postcode into the search box on the homepage.
2. Pick your address from the list that appears.
3. Your upcoming bin collection days are shown instantly.

You can save your address and it will load automatically next time.

Do I need to create an account?

No. There are no accounts, no sign-up, no email address required. Ever.

Is it free?

Yes, and it will stay that way. If you'd like to say thanks, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi.

Understanding your results

What does the top section show?

The top of your results shows your next collection — the very next bin due at your address, regardless of bin type. Below that, “Comin’ up” lists the collection days that follow, in date order, with the bins due on each one.

Why do some addresses show no schedule?

Some properties — communal bin stores, on-demand collections, privately-managed developments — don't have a fixed kerbside collection day registered in the council's scheduling system. If your address has no schedule, the app will tell you clearly rather than showing incorrect dates. That state offers only Change address because there are no dates to share or export.

How far ahead does the schedule go?

The app shows whatever the council's system returns — typically several weeks to a few months ahead. The exact horizon varies by council and time of year.

How up to date is the data?

Collection dates come directly from the council's systems and are cached for up to 6 hours. If there's been a recent change (e.g. a bank holiday adjustment), the updated dates will appear within 6 hours of the council updating their system.

Don't want to wait? Tap Check again underneath your results and the app will go back to the council there and then. You can do that once every 10 minutes per address — enough to catch a change, gentle enough not to batter the cooncil's servers.

Can I trust these dates?

The data comes from the same systems the councils use themselves. For Aberdeen City we show the council's published dates exactly as they come.

Aberdeenshire's system publishes your next collection for each bin, alongside how often it comes round — “3 weekly”, say. We work the later dates forward from that council-published frequency. A date worked out that way is never drawn in colour: its bin is shown as an outline rather than a filled one, and the day is labelled ESTIMATE. They follow the council's own pattern, but they haven't been individually published yet, and can shift around bank holidays. The next collection shown is always the council's confirmed one.

We only project aboot eight weeks aheid, an' we stop afore Christmas an' New Year athegither — the festive fortnicht shifts every year, so an estimate ower that period wid be a guess we've good reason tae doot. Check wi' yer cooncil direct for December an' January dates.

Councils also adjust collections without much notice (bank holidays, severe weather, operational changes). For anything critical, the official council websites are the authoritative source.

Aberdeen City bins

How do Aberdeen City bin collections work?

Aberdeen City Council uses a three-bin system on a fortnightly cycle: Week 1 is the General Waste Bin (black lid) only; Week 2 is the Mixed Recycling Bin (blue lid) and the Food and Garden Bin (brown lid) together.

• Week 1: General Waste Bin (black lid) only
• Week 2: Mixed Recycling Bin (blue lid) + Food and Garden Bin (brown lid)

For the full list of what's accepted, check the Aberdeen City Council website.

Aberdeenshire bins

How do Aberdeenshire bin collections work?

Aberdeenshire Council collects on a three-week rotation — the Black Lid Bin (refuse), Blue Lid Bin (paper and card), and Orange Lid Bin (mixed recycling) each come round every three weeks.

When is food waste collected in Aberdeenshire?

Every collection day. Aberdeenshire doesn't give the food caddy a date of its own — it goes out alongside whichever bin is due, which is why the council lists collections as “Refuse and food waste” or “Orange lid bin recycling and food waste”. Your schedule shows the bin, with a reminder underneath that the caddy goes out too.

Why does my schedule show a collection that isn't one of the three bins?

The three-week rotation covers the three main bins, but it isn't everything Aberdeenshire collects — the council also runs occasional collections such as textiles or hazardous waste.

Anything outside the three main bins shows up in your schedule under the council's own name for it, so you always see what's actually due, even if we don't have a designed label for it yet.

For the full list of what's accepted, check the Aberdeenshire Council website.

Tips

How do I look up a different address?

Tap Change address above your results. That opens the address picker for your current postcode, and there's a Search a different postcode link at the bottom of it if you're looking somewhere else entirely.

If you check on more than one place — a second property, or a relative's house — the last five addresses you looked up appear as Recent addresses on the search screen, so switching is one tap. Remove any of them with the ✕ beside it. To wipe the screen and start over, tap the Fan's Yer Bin? title.

Does it remember my address?

Yes — automatically. Once a lookup succeeds, your address is saved in your browser, so your next visit loads the schedule with no typing. It's never sent to us; see the Transparency page for exactly what's kept on your device.

What are the Share options?

On a result with collection dates, tap Share to open three choices:

• Share schedule opens your phone's native share sheet with a pre-written message and the link — handy for WhatsApp, Messages or email.
• Copy link copies the bare URL to your clipboard, with no extra text.
• Save image creates a shareable card showing your upcoming dates.

Shared links include your address's UPRN (a public property reference number) in the URL, so whoever opens the link sees the same schedule — no postcode required. Save image is left out when the council could not be reached and you are looking at saved dates — an image of dates we could not confirm has no way to refresh itself. All three actions are left out when an address has nae regular schedule.

Can I install it on my phone?

Fan's Yer Bin? works as a Progressive Web App. You can install it to your home screen for instant access — no App Store required.

• iPhone / iPad: open the site in Safari, tap the Share button (square with arrow), then tap Add to Home Screen.
• Android: open in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu, then tap Add to Home Screen or Install App.
• Desktop Chrome / Edge: look for the install icon in the address bar.

On Android and desktop Chrome you may not need any of that — if your browser offers it, an Install app 📲 button appears on the page and does it in one tap.

Once installed, the app opens in its own window without browser chrome — fast and focused.

Sharing your collection day

Can I share my bin schedule?

Yes. On a result with collection dates, tap Share and choose Share schedule, Copy link or Save image. A shared link opens the same address and schedule without needing the postcode. To share a different address, look it up first, then share from those results.

A Nae regular schedule result carries none of the three share actions, because there are no collection dates to send or export.

Is it safe to share the link?

The link contains your property's UPRN — a publicly available reference number assigned by Ordnance Survey to every addressable property in the UK. It's linked to an address, not a person. Anyone with the link can see the bin collection dates for that address, nothing more.

Privacy

Does the app track me?

There are no tracking cookies, and nothing that follows you across days or sites. Vercel Web Analytics uses a privacy-focused visitor hash that resets daily, so it cannot follow you across days or websites. Your address — and the last few you've looked up — are saved on your device so the app can load your schedule automatically and let you switch between them. None of that address data leaves your browser.

For the full detail on what's stored, how caching works, and third-party services, see the Transparency Statement.

Accuracy and edge cases

It says the council is “haein bother” — what does that mean?

That banner means the council's own system is down or misbehaving, so we can't get fresh dates from them right now. It's their end, not yours, and it only ever affects the one council — the rest keep workin as normal.

You'll still see your last saved dates. The whole screen drains to a paler version of itself, and the page says which council is quiet, so you're never left wondering whether what you are looking at is live. Try again a bit later and it'll pick up as soon as they're back.

It says it “couldnae confirm” my address — is that the same thing?

No. “Haein bother” means the council's system did not answer at all. “Couldnae confirm” means it answered fine, but this particular check came back with nothing for that address — the same shape a mistyped address or an unrecognised property produces, so we can't say which it was.

If we've got a schedule saved for that address from the last 7 days, you'll see it, drained the same paler way, with the page saying it couldnae confirm rather than that the council is quiet. Past that window, or once every saved date has gone by, you'll see a plain screen saying we couldnae get a schedule, with nothing to share or save — because there's nothing left we can vouch for.

The dates shown don't match my council letter — why?

The most common cause is a bank holiday: councils often shift collections by a day or two around bank holidays and not all systems update at the same time. Check the official council website for bank holiday collection changes.

If the dates are consistently wrong, the council may have updated their scheduling system and it's filtering through. Wait a few hours and try again.

What if my postcode isn't found?

Double-check the postcode. If it's correct but the app can't find it, there are a few possibilities:

• The postcode is in a Scottish council area we don't serve yet — see Coverage for the up-to-date list.
• It's a very new postcode not yet in the lookup data.
• Temporary issue with the postcode lookup service — try again in a few minutes.

What if my address isn't in the list?

Address lookups come from the council's systems. If your address is missing, it may not yet be registered in their scheduling system — this can happen with new-builds. Contact your council directly to register for collections.

I moved house — can I look up my new address?

Yes. Tap the title to reset, search your new postcode, and pick your new address. If you want to save it, the app will update automatically.

Devices and accessibility

Does it work on a phone?

Yes — the app is designed mobile-first. It works on any modern smartphone browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Samsung Internet) and on tablets and desktops too.

Does it work offline?

Partially. If you've loaded your schedule at some point in the last 7 days, those dates will still show without an internet connection — drawn in the paler saved-dates treatment so you know they haven't just been checked. Looking up a new address needs a connection.

Does it support screen readers?

Yes. The app uses semantic HTML and proper ARIA labels. If you encounter an accessibility issue, let me know via the contact page.

Is there an Android or iOS app?

No separate app — but you can add Fan's Yer Bin? to your home screen for an app-like experience. See the Can I install it on my phone? section above.

Support and contact

Something's broken — how do I report it?

Head to the contact page and drop a message. Include your postcode area (e.g. AB15) and what you expected to see — that helps track it down faster.

Is this an official council service?

No. Fan's Yer Bin? is an independent project — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Moray Council, Orkney Islands Council, Clackmannanshire Council, Scottish Borders Council, Stirling Council, East Ayrshire Council, Renfrewshire Council, East Dunbartonshire Council, Falkirk Council, West Dunbartonshire Council, North Ayrshire Council, West Lothian Council, Highland Council, Fife Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar or Angus Council. For official information, contact your council directly.

Who made it?

A developer in Aberdeen who got fed up clicking through council websites every fortnight. If it saves you time too, consider buying me a coffee.