Brand new 2026 bin lorries arriving on streets for Coventry rubbish collections

Brand new bin lorries are taking to the streets of Coventry for household rubbish collections.

Three new trucks with 2026 licence plates have just been added to the fleet and more are due in the coming weeks, the council confirmed.

Coventry City Council says the vehicle upgrades are part of a programme to replace older lorries with the latest versions.

A council spokesperson said: “We took delivery of three new refuse collection vehicles on Friday 10th April, all of which are registered with 2026 number plates. 

“These vehicles form part of our ongoing fleet replacement programme, under which we are replacing 20 refuse vehicles during 2025 and 2026 that were scheduled for replacement.

“To date, 16 vehicles have been delivered, with the remaining four due to arrive over the next few weeks.”

At present, the council runs three different collections for each household. It provides blue-lid bins for cardboard, paper, plastic and glass recycling, brown-lid bins for food and garden waste (where residents have subscribed to this service for £40 a year), and green-lid bins for general household rubbish. 

The number of bins is set to increase to four as the Government standardises collections across the country. It will mean residents are given a small, 23-litre caddy to use for food waste rather than putting it in their brown bin with lawn and hedge trimmings.

Coventry City Council won’t deliver the new food caddies until June and the new collections won’t come into force in this area until September. Councillors have expressed concerns over food collections being spread through the week on different days to other bins.

The council’s refuse collection guide says bins are emptied between Tuesday and Friday, depending on your area, and residents need to put their bins out by 7am on the designated collection day for their street. 

Bins won’t be accepted if they contain the wrong items, are too heavy or overfilled and at risk of breaking when lifted onto the vehicle, or are damaged. Crews are not allowed to remove any items that have got stuck or wedged inside your bin. 

Collection days are often moved at Easter and Christmas.