Wiltshire Council Briefing Note
Christmas waste collections
HRC opening times 2021
Waste and recycling collection dates will not change over the Christmas and New Year period, as waste collection crews will be working as normal on Bank Holidays Monday 27, Tuesday 28 December 2021, and Monday 3 January 2022.
Garden waste collections will stop for two weeks over this period as normal. The last collections will take place on Friday 24 December and they will restart on Monday 10 January 2022.
Residents can check their waste, recycling and garden waste collection online at wiltshire.gov.uk/WasteCollectionDays
Household recycling centre (HRC) opening times and dates will change over the Christmas and New Year period and residents are advised to check online before visiting an HRC at wiltshire.gov.uk/household-recycling-centres
HRCs that normally open on Fridays will be open on Christmas Eve, 24 December from 10am but will close at 1pm. All HRCs will be closed on Saturday 25, Sunday 26 December and Saturday 1 January 2022. Other than on these dates, the centres will open as normal on their specified opening days.
Christmas recycling messages: At Christmas time many of us generate more waste than usual. We would like everyone to do their bit by recycling as much of their waste as possible. Our kerbside recycling collection service helps make this easy to do.
In addition to the everyday items people tend to recycle in their blue lidded bin and black box, people can add items including wrapping paper, providing it scrunches into a ball*; cardboard packaging, plastic sweet tubs (up to 5 litres), mince pie foil cases, drinks cans, glass bottles, and Christmas cards without glitter. Local charity shops may be happy to receive donations of unwanted Christmas presents.
It is important that people do not place batteries or electrical items into any of their bins. These items can cause fires in collection vehicles or at waste
processing and sorting facilities. These should be disposed of at HRCs instead.
Households with extra recyclable materials such as cans, cardboard and paper can placed these in suitable alternative containers alongside their bin for collection. Flatten cardboard and wash and squash plastic bottles and cartons and put the lids back on as this will help make more room in your blue-lidded bin.
Collection of real Christmas trees: People who pay to have their garden waste collected can put their real Christmas tree, alongside their garden waste bin on their first collection in January. We will collect your tree for composting, or they can support local charities by paying a small donation to have your tree collected via the Just Helping scheme at https://charityxmastreecollection.com/.
For information about local recycling centres, recycling Christmas trees, collection days and advice on how to reduce waste and recycle as much as possible during the festive period visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk/rubbish-and-recycling.
*The scrunch test is when you try to squeeze paper into a ball. If it stays in a ball, it is most likely the wrapping paper is made of paper only. If it does not, it is likely the paper contains other materials, which means we cannot collect it for recycling.