Bin strikes begin in Aberdeen today and Aberdeenshire on Friday as part of a pay dispute involving council workers across Scotland.
Union members providing waste and recycling services are taking action on many days until September 10.
Aberdeen City Council said it had received union notification of the walk outs.
It added that, while the full impact is unknown, all waste and recycling collection services - both domestic and commercial - may be affected and it is likely that some bins will not be emptied.
The council went on: "The uncertainty around staff availability means that we cannot say on any given day which bins will or will not be emptied.
"For this reason, our advice to residents is to put your bin out by 7am on your normal collection day, but take it back in if it is not emptied by the end of the day. If it has not been emptied, please do not put it out again until your next scheduled collection day as we will not have the resource to catch up in between."
The council issued a similar message to trade waste customers.
Excess waste
It also told businesses: "We will take away any excess waste generated through the strike period on our first visit after services recommence.
"Please consider which of your bins might not be emptied during this time and take steps to minimise your waste. Can you safely store your waste or recycling until your next scheduled collection? Please also consider where you can reduce the amount of waste and recycling you generate. Remember to compact waste to maximise the space in your bins. "
Below are the dates for the planned walk outs by workers in waste and recycling services at Scottish councils:
Unite - August 24 to 31
Aberdeen, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.
Unison - August 26 to 29 and September 7 to 10
Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire
GMB - August 26 to 29 and September 7 to 10
Aberdeen, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Highland, Midlothian, Orkney, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, Perth and Kinross, and North Lanarkshire.
Local authorities have increased their pay offer from 3.5% to 5% for the striking workers, but trade unions say they needed more detail about how it would impact the lowest-paid members.
Cosla, the body representing local government, said it had a productive meeting with unions yesterday.
But the three unions involved said no agreement had been reached and called for more funding from the Scottish Government.
Johanna Baxter, Unison Scotland's head of local government, told the BBC her union was "a long way" from agreement.
She added: "Cosla negotiated within the cost envelope that leaders mandated them, but that simply isn't enough and goes nowhere near matching the pay offer provided to council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"The only thing that both parties could agree on is that we need the urgent intervention from the deputy first minister to put additional funding in place - and both will be writing to the deputy first minister to that effect today."
Unite said that, for more than half of local government workers, Cosla's offer represented an offer of between £900 to £1,250 when the UK Government is offering council workers in England a £1,925 flat rate pay offer.
Months of disruption
Unite industrial officer Wendy Dunsmore warned the dispute could cause "months of disruption".
She said: "It's a sad indictment that council workers in Scotland are being offered substantially less than their counterparts in England."
GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway added: "Our members are angry about the lack of value being shown to them by political leaders and scared about the prospect of pay that doesn't confront a cost-of-living crisis that's getting worse by the week."
Meanwhile, school and nursery staff in nine Scottish council areas are also to go on strike for three days next month in the same pay row.
Unison said a total of 13,000 members would be involved in the action starting on September 6.
It will see schools, early years centres and nurseries disrupted in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, Orkney, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Stirling.
The unions represent workers including school catering staff, cleaners, caretakers, teaching assistants and early-years practitioners.