Month: December 2015

For the majority of Edinburgh households there will be no change to collection dates for green wheelie bins, food waste bins and red and blue boxes over the festive period.

However, there will be no collections on CHRISTMAS DAY (Friday 25 December) or NEW YEAR’S DAY (Friday 1 January).

Collections for households whose bins or recycling boxes were due to be picked up on these dates have been rescheduled for Saturday 26 December and Saturday 2 January respectively. 

Residents are reminded that bins and boxes must be on the kerbside by 6am ready for collection.

There will be no special uplifts between Tuesday 24 December and Tuesday 5 January. Normal service will resume on Wednesday 6 January.

All information about festive collections has been added to the Council’s website where residents can check collection dates for bins and Christmas trees, and report missed bins.

Christmas Tree recycling

Residents will once again be able to recycle their real Christmas trees at the kerbside this year, no matter where they live.

Those with a brown bin should chop up their Christmas tree and place it inside their bin on the kerbside by 6am on their next garden waste collection day (collection days can be checked on the city council website).

Residents in communal areas that use on street shared bins can put their tree on the pavement outside their property on designated collection dates during January – check the website to see when collectiions are taking place in your area. Trees over 6ft tall should be cut in half first.

To enable trees to be recycled, residents are reminded:

– To remove all decorations from the Christmas tree
– To remove stands from trees
– To please cut the tree if is 6ft tall or more
– Not to place trees in plastic bags, as this means they cannot be recycled

You can also take Christmas trees to any of the Community Recycling Centres. The sites will be closed 25, 26 December and 1, 2 January.

Councillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Convener, said: “I’m delighted that thanks to all staff working together to deliver the service that, with the exception of Christmas Day and New Years Day, we are able to run all our waste and recycling collections as normal during the festive period.

“It’s important not to forget about recycling at this time of year, especially as we produce so much waste. You would be amazed at how much stuff we use at this time of year that is recyclable, like cardboard and wrapping paper, so please take advantage of our recycling facilities as much as you can.

“Whether they put their tree out with their brown bin, leave it out for collection in communal bin areas on designated days or take it to a Community Recycling Centre, people can make sure that their real Christmas tree is recycled once the festive season is over.

” It’s never been easier to check information or report things online so I would remind you  to check our website over the festive period for any possible changes to collections if the weather is bad or for information on recycling.”

Waste and recycling collections may be subject to change in the event of severe weather. For more information on what to do if services are disrupted due to bad weather, visit the city council’s severe weather pages.

Calendars online for 2016 collections

There are no changes to the 2016 collections. The new bin calendar is on the city council’s bin collection day page now.