Christmas and New Year bin collections and recycling services

Our bin crews and street cleaning teams will be busy over the festive period, collecting your rubbish and keeping the borough tidy.

Please help them by recycling as much as you can and cutting down on the amount of rubbish you put out.

This year there will be the following changes to your bin collection dates over the festive period.

If your normal collection date is This festive period your collection will be on
Monday 23 December 2024 Monday 23 December 2024
Tuesday 24 December 2024 Tuesday 24 December 2024
Wednesday 25 December 2024 (Bank Holiday) Friday 27 December 2024
Thursday 26 December 2024 (Bank Holiday) Saturday 28 December 2024
Friday 27 December 2024 Monday 30 December 2024
Monday 30 December 2024 Tuesday 31 December 2024
Tuesday 31 December 2024 Thursday 2 January 2025
Wednesday 1 January 2025 (Bank Holiday) Friday 3 January 2025
Thursday 2 January 2025 Saturday 4 January 2025
Friday 3 January 2025 Monday 6 January 2025
Monday 6 January 2025 Tuesday 7 January 2025
Tuesday 7 January 2025 Wednesday 8 January 2025
Wednesday 8 January 2025 Thursday 9 January 2025
Thursday 9 January 2025 Friday 10 January 2025
Friday 10 January 2025 Saturday 11 January 2025

From Monday 13 January 2025, your bin collections will return to normal.

Remember to:

  • leave your bins by the boundary of your property by 6am on your collection day (only put bins on the street if you don’t have a front garden or drive)
  • put your rubbish inside your wheelie bin with the lid closed shut
  • visit our what goes in each bin page if you’re not sure what goes where

Cut down on your waste this Christmas 

Christmas usually means plenty of food and drink, gifts and decorations. It’s also a time where we waste a lot of stuff. 

Cut down on what you throw away to save money and do your bit for the environment. 

Get top tips on reducing waste.  

Recycle your real Christmas tree 

We don’t collect real Christmas trees, but when the fun is over, you can take them to be recycled at the car parks below on the following dates:

Date, time and location 

6 January 2025

9am to 3pm

Barking Park (South Park Entrance, IG11 8TA) 

 7 January 2025

9am to 3pm

St Chads Park (West Road Entrance, RM6 6UL) 

 8 January 2025

9am to 3pm

Central Park (Rainham Road North Entrance RM137QX)  

Please remove tinsel, decorations and stands before you drop your trees off. You can also take your Christmas trees to Frizlands Lane tip. 

Disposing of your tired plastic Christmas trees 

If your plastic Christmas tree can’t be reused next year, you can put it in your grey general waste bin, but only if it fits and the lid closes shut. 

If it’s too big for your bin, you can take it to one of the Reuse and Recycling Centres (tips) for free, or have it collected with our bulky waste collection service

Frizlands Lane tip opening times 

If you need to visit Frizlands Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre, Rainham Road North RM10 7HX, take a look at their festive opening times: 

Date Opening times
Tuesday 24 December 2024 (Christmas Eve)  8am to 4pm 
Wednesday 25 December 2024 (Christmas Day)  Closed 
Thursday 26 December 2024 (Boxing Day)  Closed 
Friday 27 December 2024  7:30am to 4:30pm 
Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 December 2024  8am to 4pm 
Monday 30 December 2024  7:30am to 4:30pm 
Tuesday 31 December 2024  7:30am to 4:30pm 
Wednesday 1 January 2025 (New Years Day)  Closed 

You will need to bring either your current Council Tax bill or driving licence showing your current address. You can also visit the tips in Havering, Newham and Redbridge. 

Please note we won’t be collecting bulky waste on Wednesday 25 December, Thursday 26 December and Wednesday 1 January.