Christmas recycling and rubbish collections

There will be some changes to recycling and waste collections over the Christmas and New Year Bank holidays.

From Sunday 31 December to Sunday 14 January, you can take your real Christmas tree to one of our drop-off points across the district. We will recycle your tree.

Christmas and New Year recycling and waste collections

There are some changes to recycling and rubbish collections over the Christmas and New Year bank holidays.

Black rubbish sacks and clear recycling sacks

The table below shows how collection days will change and when we plan to carry out collections.

We can collect extra recycling and rubbish from affected households. 

Glass box or communal bin

The table below shows how collection days will change and when we plan to carry out collections.

Garden waste bags

As usual, we are pausing garden waste collections for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year.  

There will be no garden waste collections from Monday 25 December to Sunday 7 January. They will resume from Monday 8 January. 

All other collection days will stay the same as usual.

You can take extra recycling and rubbish to one of our community recycling banks across the district. Or you can take it to the tip, also known as Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs). 

HWRCs are owned by Hampshire County Council and closed on Monday 25 December, Tuesday 26 December, and Monday 1 January. You can check opening times and book a slot to visit on Hampshire County Council's website. 

Check your collection day

If you are not sure when your normal collection day is, you can check using our tool below. 

Find my collection day

Christmas tree recycling drop-off points

Take your real Christmas tree to one of our drop-off points across the district, and we will recycle it.

Our teams will recycle your tree by chipping it to create mulch. The mulch will be used locally to help keep moisture around plant roots, and to prevent weeds from growing.

Drop-off points will be open at the following locations from Sunday 31 December to Sunday 14 January: 

• Blackfield: Gang Warily Community Centre car park, SO45 1GA 
• Brockenhurst: Brookley Road car park, SO42 7RA 
• Burley: Burley coach park, BH24 4AA 
• Fordingbridge: A338 slip road car park, SP6 1AW 
• Hythe: New Road car park, SO45 6BP 
• Lymington: Bath Road car park, SO41 3SE 
• Lyndhurst: Village Centre car park, SO43 7BF 
• Milford-on-Sea: Hurst Road East overflow car park (by Sturt Pond), SO41 0PY 
• New Milton: Crossmead Avenue car park, BH25 6NF 
• Ringwood: The Furlong long stay car park (follow signs to the designated area), BH24 1AT 
• Totton: Rumbridge Street car park SO40 9EA 

Please only drop off real Christmas trees and remove any decorations first, such as lights or wreaths. Place trees as far back as possible in the fenced bay.

Other wood and rubbish should not be left at the sites. 

Last year, we recycled over 6,500 of residents' real Christmas trees. Thank you to everyone who dropped off their trees, it all makes a difference.

Any trees left in car parks not on this list, or by litter bins, will be treated as fly-tipping.

Recycling over Christmas and New Year

Tips for recycling over Christmas and New Year:

• most gift wrapping paper cannot be recycled in Hampshire as it contains some plastic and foil
• plain brown wrapping paper is a great choice for presents and can go in your clear recycling sack
• reuse greeting cards to create gifts tags next year, or recycle
• please remove any decorations from cards or paper, such as ribbons or sticky tape
• you can recycle cardboard packaging, remove any labels, staples or tape, and break down into large pieces before recycling - please consider taking large amounts to a community recycling bank or the tip
• metal sweet and biscuit tins can be reused or recycled
• plastic containers cannot currently be recycled in Hampshire - if you have plastic sweet and biscuit containers, please reuse or add to your rubbish sack
• all types of empty plastic bottles can go in your clear recycling sack, including milk, toiletries, and cleaning bottles 
• please remove food and drink from items to make sure they can be recycled, and check they are clean and dry

Find out more about household recycling.

Visit Hampshire County Council's Smart Living website for tips on how to reduce waste locally, and save money.