The local authority has told residents to store recycling safely until their next collection day after missing pickups due to post-Christmas surge
13:17, 02 Jan 2026Updated 16:56, 02 Jan 2026
A recycling lorry in South Gloucestershire(Image: South Gloucestershire Council)
Bristol Live readers are furious that South Gloucestershire households have had their usual bin collections disrupted this week after a surge in recycling.
On Tuesday December 30 the council’s StreetCare team said crews could not reach every home because of an exceptionally large volume of recycling. Missed collections were due to be picked up on Wednesday New Year’s Eve, but the council later said the amount was still too great to clear.
In a statement the council said it was unable to collect all household recycling on Wednesday December 31 and apologised for the inconvenience. Residents whose recycling was missed are being asked to store it safely until their next collection. Any extra recycling can be put out then using boxes, containers or tied plastic bags, provided items are sorted as mixed recycling cannot be collected from bags.
Residents who do not want to wait can take recycling to the Sort It centres at Mangotsfield, Thornbury or Yate. The council said there are appointment slots available at all sites over the coming week.
More information on local recycling centres is available online.
Commenter Grockel1 says: “The ditches and hedgerows of South Gloucestershire are already strewn with dumped rubbish. If it is not visible from the highway then Streetcare/drivers do not see/report it. The number of local village initiatives to tidy the verges is also not recorded in what is collected by the vehicles. Those in my hamlet always pick up what is outside our properties and put in our bins – not that is captured in the recycling rates. “
Britboy replies: “In Highview road, Kingswood, most of the plastic and cardboard finished up on the road. My neighbour had a cardboard box neatly filled with paper items and it didn’t get collected! Most of the green boxes finish up at the wrong address because they are just thrown anywhere. We used to have a good, reliable crew serving our road and I always gave them a Xmas box of chocolates, but not for this latest crew.”
Notoreform agrees: “So, they received a +10% salary increase (paid by us by the way) after their strike. They destroy most of the plastic boxes because they can’t be bothered to put them back nicely. I think I have already asked for 3-4 food bins because they destroy the lid. Often they leave rubbish everywhere but they don’t pick it up and now at Christmas they don’t come and ask us to go to the recycling centre. And in a typical British way: nobody says anything.”
Albert333 is frustrated: “What a surprise! Abnormally large amount of recycling! Did anyone mention that it was Christmas? What are we paying CT for?!”
Pmprompt feels similarly: “Surely statistics over the previous years would have shown that more recycling was being done . Primarily due to public response and a trend towards ordering more goods coming in cardboard boxes. It will be interesting to hear the council’s reasoning on this one.”
Peterbed points out: “We can’t take it on our bicycles, or the bus as councils want us to travel these days? They can’t have it all ways!”
LucyClarkKiwi thinks: “Abnormally large amounts of recycling are a good thing. This is what they want us all to do. It’s the collection trucks that need to be bigger, more frequent, or just more of them.”
LordWraxall agrees: “Must admit this has been the bug bear of the last year in North Somerset. Seems there has been no advance planning. Campaign after campaign of recycling more and when people do they can’t cope, it baffles the brain.”
Were your recycling collections missed this week or did you manage to get picked up as normal? Let us know how it affected you in the comments and what you think about the council’s advice.