A binman named Ashley has urged people to make one change to the way their put their rubbish bins out for collection, after getting complaints that they ‘never’ put bins back to the right property
Alice Sjoberg Social News Reporter
12:40, 28 Jan 2026Updated 14:35, 28 Jan 2026
A bin man has urged people to do 1 thing before their next bin collection day (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)
It can be frustrating if you’ve put your bins out for the binmen to collect and empty only to find that they haven’t brought the right bins back to your home, or just left them out on the roads for residents to collect.
Now, one binman named Ashley, from the South East of England has shared his experience of returning bins to the correct homes, and urging people to do one thing before putting their rubbish out to make sure their bin gets returned to their home properly. Responding to a comment from a viewer about how binmen never remember where each bin they go to empty come from, Ashley said it’s not as easy as it may seem.
Ashley has made a following of over 152,900 followers on TikTok, where he’s better known as ‘The No1 Binman’, as he goes on to share tips about bin collection, if something should be recycled or binned, and anything else you might want to know for your next rubbish collection.
However, some viewers have also taken the opportunity to complain about their local bin collections, blaming them for any issues they might have experienced from their own bin collection.
At the start of one video, Ashley went on to read the comment from a viewer who claimed ‘it’s not difficult’ to remember where each bin comes from as they only take ‘one bin at a time’.
However, he responded by saying it wasn’t as easy as it may seem, before urging everyone to do one thing to their prevent bin mishaps.
“Well, actually, we don’t take one bin at a time,” Ashley corrected, explaining that they actually take one in each hand, which they drag to the bin lorry to empty. Some experienced bin men might even take up to three or four bins for each collection.
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And when the collection is done, Ashley continued to explained that since all bins ‘look exactly the same’ it’s not as easy to remember which bin goes where.
“Crazy that, they’re both just bins,” he said. However, in order to make sure you get the right bin back outside of your home, he went on to share his go to tip he urged everyone to do ahead of their next bin collection.
“What you do, is you put your [house] number on your lid, so we can see it. Crazy again. And then, it’ll go back outside your house. It might be 10-20 seconds, you know, and then it’ll be easy to get it back outside your house,” Ashley said.
How to label a wheelie bin
While Ashley went on to recommend to get sticky labels to put on your bin, which has your house number clearly written on it. These are not included when you get your bin from the council, but you will have to supply them for yourself.
Instead, you could also mark your bins with a marker pen. Clearly write the house number in big and bold letters on the lid of the bin to allow the binmen to see where the bin belongs.
The binman urged people to mark their bins with their house numbers (stock image)(Image: Collins)
However, this might need a touch up from time to time, to make sure the letter stays bold and readable, even in dark and grubby weather conditions.
If you want something you don’t have to pay attention to, several companies sells stickers that have been specially made to go on top of bin lids. These can be bought for cheap from stores like B&Q, Amazon, or other online retailers.