Christmas bin collections

Christmas and New Year collection dates

There will be changes to your waste and recycling collection days over the Christmas and New Year period.

Your collections will continue as normal up to and including Tuesday 24 December 2024, then the following will apply:

Your collections will return to their normal day from Monday 13 January 2025.

Recycling at Christmas

We produce many tonnes of extra waste over the festive season, you can help the environment by recycling as much as possible.

• Food leftovers can be used to make lots of delicious meals and snacks saving you money and helping reduce food waste. Visit the love food hate waste website for leftover food recipe ideas and inspiration. Use your food waste bin for food you can’t use up.
• Cardboard and paper can go into your green box and large cardboard boxes should be flattened down and put out between your bins on recycling collection day, or used as a container for extra card and paper.
• Glass bottles and jars, plastic pots and tubs, tins and cans (including sweet and biscuit tins), can all go into your brown recycling bin.
• Foil food trays should be rinsed off to remove any food residue and placed into your brown recycling bin.
• Christmas cards without glitter or metallic foil can go into your green box. Cards with glitter or metallic foil are not recyclable and should go into your green household waste bin.
• Wrapping paper if it's not metallic, doesn't have glitter and you can scrunch it - and it stays scrunched  can go into your green box.  Wrapping paper that is metallic or has glitter should go into your green household waste bin.
• Christmas trees will be collected with garden waste if you subscribe to the service. Please take the tree out of it's pot and place alongside your black bin. Or sign up for Hospice in the Weald's Christmas Tree recycling scheme.
• Polystyrene and plastic bags/wrapping should go into your green household waste bin.
• Small household batteries can be placed in a small bag on top of your brown recycling bin.

How you can help

You can help our collection crews by:

• Crushing the plastic containers you put out for recycling. The hydraulic system in the trucks pushes material towards the back of the chamber but does not crush it. If you compress your empty containers it means collection vehicles can visit more properties before becoming full.
• Please break down your cardboard to minimise the space it will take in collection vehicles. Very wet cardboard also causes problems, both with collection and when emptying at the tip. So please only put your cardboard out the night before collection if possible.
• Please put all general rubbish in bin liners, even small items you may put be tempted to drop straight into the bin. Loose items (especially polystyrene) can fly out when the bin is tipped into the truck, causing delays and problems with litter.
• Please put your bins out by 7am. Rounds may be reorganised depending on the resources available, so your collection may be earlier than normal.
• Please make it easy for the crews to see and access your bins. Your waste may not be collected by the usual personnel and they may not be familiar with your property.

Real Christmas tree composting

Real Christmas trees will be collected with garden waste if you subscribe to the service. Please take the tree out of it's pot and place alongside your black bin.

Real Christmas trees can be recycled at any Kent County Council household waste recycling centre. You will need to book your visit online via the Kent County Council website.

Hospice in the Weald's Christmas Tree Recycling Campaign

Hospice in the Weald’s Christmas Tree Recycling scheme returns for its fifth year, aiming to collect 2,000 trees and raise £62,000 to support Hospice in the Weald.

For a suggested donation of £20, Hospice will collect and recycle your real Christmas tree. No hassle, no waste and no needles left in your car!

All funds raised will help the hospice continue providing free care for patients with a terminal illness and those important to them.

They will be collecting trees from 12 to 14 January 2025 in the following postcodes:

• TN1
• TN2
• TN3
• TN4
• TN5
• TN6
• TN7
• TN8
• TN9
• TN10
• TN11
• TN12
• TN13
• TN14
• TN15
• TN16
• TN17
• TN18
• TN19
• TN20

To register your tree for collection and to find out more information about the campaign, please visit hospiceintheweald.org.uk or email
fundraising@hospiceintheweald.org.uk

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