Christmas Waste and Recycling

Bin men in Stoke-on-Trent can look forward to a well-earned break this Christmas – after the city council announced its revised bin collection dates for the festive period, while staff at the Household Waste Recycling Centres (tips) will be stepping in to support them by extending their opening hours.

Residents will receive normal waste collections up to and including Friday 24 December 2021. Collections will not start again until Tuesday 4 January 2022 – and households can check the dates for the new collections on their bin calendars or online at stoke.gov.uk/waste.

However, bins that would normally have been collected on Bank Holiday Monday 3 January will be collected on Wednesday 29 December 2021.

Given that there is likely to be extra waste generated over the Christmas break, residents can leave up to two additional black domestic sacks of household waste with their grey bin, and one additional cardboard box of mixed recycling with their blue bin, which will be collected when the service resumes in January.

Councillor Carl Edwards, cabinet member for housing and environment said: “Our bin men do a fantastic job – walking on average 70 miles per week in all sorts of weather. We think they deserve some time off at Christmas to spend with their family and recharge the batteries. They’ve continued to collect all through the pandemic, and they have collected around 60,000 tonnes of waste over this last year. We forget that they are front line workers like many health professionals and they help keep the city going. It’s what they do – come rain or shine.

“Our tips will be open after Boxing Day until New Year’s Eve for those residents who want to dispose of their rubbish before we start collecting again – opening times can be found at stoke.gov.uk/waste.”

Residents are reminded that many Christmas related products can be recycled - most cards are paper based and can be recycled in the blue wheeled bins (no glitter please) along with cardboard boxes. But due to the make-up of wrapping paper and the amount of sticky tape and embellishments that cause problems at recycling plants, residents are asked to dispose of wrapping paper in their grey bin. Real Christmas trees can be recycled at the tips – or cut up and placed in the brown bins for those residents who have signed up to the winter brown bin collection service. 

Deliveries for replacement wheeled bins will be paused from 23 December 2021 and will resume from 5 January 2022.

Residents who have joined the brown bin winter collection service will restart their collection from 4 January, while the free organic waste service will start again in April 2022.

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Household Waste Recycling Centres – Opening