The council has released advice on how to recycle this season, as well as the dates to put your bins out.

Household recycling centre sites will close on:

  • Christmas Day
  • Boxing Day
  • New Year’s Day

All other days over the Christmas period, whether Bank Holidays or not, the sites will operate the usual opening days and hours.

The dates for bin collections are in the table below:

Festive bin collection times (Image: Bucks Council)

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Garden waste collections have been suspended for 6 weeks since December 15 and collections will resume from Monday, January 26 2026.

Bucks Council stated that around 30 per cent more waste is produced in the festive season.

The local authority stated: “It’s even more important to reduce, reuse and recycle.”

It shared the following list of recyclable items:

  • Christmas cards,
  • crackers (no snaps),
  • paper hats,
  • non-glittery wrapping paper,
  • chocolate boxes,
  • non-Christmas items such as cleaning bottles and shampoo bottles.

The council said: “If you have too much recycling for your bin at home, you can visit your nearest household recycling centre. If you cannot get to the recycling centre, the collection crews will take extra recycling.

“You should flat pack cardboard, keeping it below 1 metre square and squash other recycling to help fit more on the recycling vehicles.

It added that if you live:

  • in the Aylesbury Vale area, put your extra recycling in a cardboard box, or clear plastic bag,
  • in the Chiltern, Wycombe or South Bucks areas, put extra recycling in a reusable container.

Ade Osibogun, Cabinet Member for Environment, Climate Change and Waste, said:

“The festive season is a time for celebration, but it also brings a big increase in waste.

“By planning ahead and recycling as much as possible, we can all do our bit to reduce our environmental impact.

“At a time of gift giving, often including toys, gadgets and appliances, as well as an abundance of fairy lights, I would also like to remind residents about how to correctly recycle small electricals and batteries. It’s really important to dispose of electricals separately and never put them in a bin as this can cause fires in collection vehicles and be a danger to our crews.

“Luckily in Bucks we have lots of options for how you can safely recycle your electricals and keep their valuable components in use.”

The council gave the following list of recycling advice:

  • Small electrical items – on top of your bin lid on collection day, or at all Household Recycling Centres 
  • Batteries – on top of your bin lid on collection day, at all Household Recycling Centres and most Supermarkets or shops which sell batteries 
  • Large electrical items – at all 10 Household Recycling Centres, or book a bulky waste collection via the council