Colchester’s recycling and rubbish collection days are changing slightly over the festive period, with scheduled collections during Christmas week moving backwards or forwards a day, depending on the normal collection day.
Residents can check their recycling calendars here, which will show the collection changes. Otherwise, the changes are as follows:
Garden waste pause: As in previous years and in line with Garden Waste Collection terms and conditions there will be no garden waste collections from Monday, 29 December 2025 until Friday, 9 January 2026, whilst we focus on collecting Christmas recycling and rubbish. Garden waste collections normally scheduled for Friday 26 December will take place on Monday 29 December. The Garden Waste collection service will re-start on Monday, 12 January 2026.
Monday collection changes: Flats bin-store rubbish collections scheduled for Monday, 22 December and Monday, 29 December, will take place over the previous weekends.
Christmas week: There will be no collections on Thursday, 25 December and Friday, 26 December 2025. The new schedule is:
Usual Collection Day New Collection Day
Tuesday, 23 December Monday, 22 December
Wednesday, 24 December Tuesday, 23 December
Thursday, 25 December Wednesday, 24 December
Friday, 26 December Monday, 29 December
New Year's Week: There will be no kerbside or flats collections on Thursday, 1 January 2026. The new schedule is:
Usual Collection Day New Collection Day
Tuesday, 30 December Tuesday, 30 December
Wednesday, 31 December Wednesday, 31 December
Thursday, 1 January Friday, 2 January
Friday, 2 January Saturday, 3 January
Where the Usual Collection Day matches the New Collection Day there is no change. Find out more here: Christmas and New Year collections
Information about Essex County Council’s Shrub End Recycling Centre opening times and items accepted can be found here.
Recycle your Christmas tree: If you are looking to recycle your real Christmas tree following the festive period, you can ask St Helena Hospice to take it away for a small donation.
Volunteers supporting St Helena will be out across Colchester and the surrounding areas between 9 January and 11 January, to collect pre-registered real Christmas trees from the postcode areas of CO1 to CO9 and CO11 to CO16.
More information can be found here.
Composting at Christmas: Turning your festive leftovers into compost is a great way to recycle food waste into nutrient-rich soil for your garden. You can compost items such as fruit scraps, vegetable peelings, and coffee grounds. Find out more about reducing food waste and recycling more over the Christmas period here.
Cllr Martin Goss, Portfolio Holder for Waste, Neighbourhood Services and Leisure, said: “Our calendar system continues to make it easy for residents to see changes in their personal recycling calendars, which helps to keep collections as straightforward as possible.
“We encourage everyone to consider the environment by being mindful of what they buy and how they dispose of waste. Residents can find plenty of recycling tips and advice online and on social media to help make this a green and enjoyable Christmas for all.”
Collection days for households will return to normal on Monday, 5 January. Garden Waste collections will return to normal on Monday, 12 January.
To find your recycling and rubbish collection calendar, enter your postcode at www.colchester.gov.uk/your-recycling-calendar.