Christmas and New Year bin collection dates 2024-25
Your bin collections days will change over the Christmas and New Year holidays. The revised collection dates are shown below.
Make sure your bins or waste containers are on the boundary of your property by 7am on the day of your collection.
| Normal collection date | Revised collection date |
|---|---|
| Monday 23 December | No change |
| Tuesday 24 December | No change |
| Wednesday 25 December | Friday 27 December |
| Thursday 26 December | Saturday 28 December |
| Friday 27 December | Monday 30 December |
| Monday 30 December | Tuesday 31 December |
| Tuesday 31 December | Thursday 2 January |
| Wednesday 1 January | Friday 3 January |
| Thursday 2 January | Saturday 4 January |
| Friday 3 January | Monday 6 January |
| Monday 6 January | Tuesday 7 January |
| Tuesday 7 January | Wednesday 8 January |
| Wednesday 8 January | Thursday 9 January |
| Thursday 9 January | Friday 10 January |
| Friday 10 January | Saturday 11 January |
Collections will return to normal on Monday 13 January 2025.
Every house will receive a bin hanger which lists the changes to collection dates over the Christmas and New Year period.
Find your normal bin collection day
Garden waste collections and Christmas tree collections
There will be no garden waste collections between 30 December 2024 and 12 January 2025.
If you are a garden waste subscriber, you can leave your real Christmas tree out for collection when services resume from 13 January 2025.
- Leave Christmas trees on the edge of your property on your garden waste day, in or next to your garden waste wheelie bin, removing all decorations, lights, stands or pots
- Trees taller than 6 feet should be chopped up to reduce the height
- Tree trunk girth should be no more than 10cm
- Branches should be no more than 3cm in diameter
Alternatively, you can take Christmas trees to your local Recycling Centre. Garden House Hospice Care also offers Christmas Tree recycling for a minimum £15 donation, from 4-9 January 2025, for postcodes within SG1-SG9, SG15-SG18 and AL6; bookings need to be made by 1 January 2025.
Get updates on service disruption
Check our website and social media for details of any disruption to waste collection services over the Christmas and New Year period.
You can sign up to receive free text and email alerts here.
Where to put your Christmas waste
Remember that additional recycling can be placed next to your recycling bins in a cardboard or plastic box on your collection day. You can also take items to your nearest recycling centre.
| Item | Households | Flats |
|---|---|---|
| Advent calendar - plastic insert | Grey mixed recycling bin | Green bin |
| Advent calendar - cardboard outer | Grey mixed recycling bin | Green bin |
| Batteries | Some supermarkets offer a used battery collection scheme, or take them to a recycling centre | |
| Baubles | Purple bin, or pass them on for re-use | Black bin |
| Biscuit tins | Grey mixed recycling bin | Green bin |
| Christmas cards | Purple bin, or re-use as gift tags next year | Black bin or re-use as gift tags next year |
| Christmas crackers | Most crackers must go into the purple bin due to mixture of materials (e.g. foil, ribbon, snap etc.) | Black bin, due to mixture of materials (e.g. foil, ribbon, snap etc.) |
| Christmas lights | Recycling centre | Recycling centre |
| Christmas tree (artificial) | Recycling centre | Recycling centre |
| Christmas tree (real) | Next to brown bin if you subscribe to garden waste collections, or at recycling centres or some garden centres | Recycling centre or collection points at garden centres |
| Electrical items | Recycling centre | |
| Food waste | Food caddy | |
| Kitchen towels/paper napkins | Purple bin | Black bin |
| Party hats (card only, without glitter or trimmings) | Grey mixed recycling bin | Green bin |
| Party poppers | Purple bin | Black bin |
| Plastic sweet tubs and tins | Great for storage, or recycle them in your grey mixed recycling bin | Green bin |
| Polystyrene | Purple bin | Black bin |
| Tinsel | Purple bin | Black bin |
| Toys | Charity shop, recycling centre or purple bin | Charity shop, recycling centre or black bin |
| Wrapping paper - plain brown or printed paper, no foil or metallic effect | Grey mixed recycling bin | Green bin |
| Wrapping paper - with foil, glitter or plastic coating | Re-use, or purple bin | Black bin |
For additional information you can also check our ‘What goes in my bins and box’ pages for houses and flats.
Bad weather and frozen bin lids
At this time of year as temperatures drop the contents of your bins can become frozen. Our crews will attempt to empty frozen bins but sometimes the contents can become stuck.
To avoid your bin not being emptied, please:
- Check the lid of your bin will open before collection is due
- If you have a lot of garden waste, do not squash it into the bin
- Loosen the waste by sliding a spade between the contents and the side of the bin
- If possible, store your bin in a slightly warmer place, against a wall or inside a garage or shed for example
- Try to keep liquid to a minimum in your kitchen and general waste bins. Moisture from bin bags in wheelie bins creates condensation, which makes wheelie bin lids more likely to freeze in very cold weather.
Crews will leave a notice if your bin has not been emptied as a result of being frozen.