Council's business services co-ordinator Scott McAllan has urged residents to keep tabs on their bins after a spate of disappearances.

"We don't know if they've decided to go for a wander by themselves or they've just been picked up by mistake," Mr McAllan said.

"But what we do know is that their owners are fretting and they'd like for them to come home."

The call for extra wheelie bin vigilance comes after a request from the Hume Local Area Command to keep a look out following an increase in bin thefts reported to police.

"In all seriousness, we understand a lot of people would probably view the issue as little more than a nuisance problem," Mr McAllan said.

"But for our elderly and infirm residents, not having a bin can be a significant inconvenience.

"We remind residents that should they require larger bins or more frequent collections, they can alter their service by filling out a change of request form available from our waste website or by contacting council's waste hotline.

"Bins are bar-coded to their particular address, but residents should mark or paint them with their property number to make them more identifiable.

"Our waste contractor JR Richards informed us the number of missing bins is by no means worse than any other region," Mr McAllan said.

"But if there are any bins out there not at their rightful home, we wheelie would love for them to be returned.

"Stolen bins can be reported to the police assistance line on 131 444 where an event number will be issued. Residents should then phone the waste hotline on 1300 133 969 with the event number where a replacement bin will be arranged.

Council's dedicated waste website can be found at www.wscwaste.com.au.