Edinburgh and Lothians Christmas bin collections 2024: When to put your rubbish out over Christmas

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Here is when to put your wheelie bins out over the Christmas period in Edinburgh and the Lothians, so you can dispose of your rubbish responsibly.

Christmas Day is all about presents, food and mulled wine – but if there’s one thing the festive season definitely brings, it’s plenty of rubbish and recycling – from leftover food to packaging to empty bottles and cans.

And, of course, bin workers across Edinburgh and the Lothians deserve their days off with their families and loved ones as well, meaning collection dates are usually different over the Christmas period.

Edinburgh Festive Bin Collections

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The City of Edinburgh Council has said the following: “We are emptying wheelie bins, glass recycling boxes and food waste caddies on different days due to the Christmas and New Year public holidays. If your usual collection day is a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, it will change.“

Collection dates

“If your collection day is Tuesday 24 December – there is no change; Wednesday 25 December - we will empty your wheelie bin on Thursday 26 December; Thursday 26 December - we will empty your wheelie bin on Friday 27 December; Friday 27 December – we will empty your wheelie bin on Saturday 28 December; Tuesday 31 December – there is no change; Wednesday 1 January - we will empty your wheelie bin on Thursday 2 January; Thursday 2 January - we will empty your wheelie bin on Friday 3 January; Friday 3 January – we will empty your wheelie bin on Saturday 4 January. If your usual collection day for your gull proof sack is Wednesday it will be collected on Thursday.”

Special uplifts

“There are no special uplifts from 21 December to 6 January.”

Christmas tree collections

“We will collect Christmas trees from 27 December to 10 January. You can check our directory soon for the days we are collecting trees from your street.”

Garden waste collections

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“We will not collect brown bins from 16 December to 14 January. This is to allow our teams to collect Christmas trees and extra waste and recycling over the festive season.”

Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC)

“Our recycling centres will be closed on 25 December, 26th December, 1 January and 2 January.”

East Lothian Festive Bin Collections

East Lothian Council has said that no waste or recycling collections will take place on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day or January 2.

Any waste due to be collected on December 25 will instead be collected on Saturday, December 28. Waste to be collected on December 26 will now be collected on Sunday, December 29, and any waste due to be uplifted on January 1 will now be collected on Saturday, January 4. Any collection due on January 2 will now take place on Sunday, January 5.

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A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “Please remember to present all containers at the kerbside by 7am on the day of collection. Please remember, we will only collect material presented in the recycling and waste containers provided by East Lothian Council.

“There will be no garden waste collections between December 23 and January 5 inclusive. Collections will restart on Monday, January 6 – your collection day and week can be found on your permit.

Real Christmas trees can be composted by taking them to a recycling centre or, if you have a collection permit, by presenting them beside your permitted brown bin on garden waste collection dates in January.”

You can check all your collection dates at: www.collectiondates.eastlothian.gov.uk

West Lothian Festive Bin Collections

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West Lothian Council has said there will be no grey, blue or green bin collections on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 25 and 26 December 2024 and 1 and 2 January 2025, due to the public holidays.

Residents whose collections are due on these days should put their bins out on the following Friday, so either Friday 27 December 2024 or Friday 3 January 2025 instead.

Bins will be collected over the course of the following week, so please leave them out until they are emptied.

No brown bin collections will take place over the two-week festive period, with last collections on Tuesday 24 December 2024 and the service resuming on Wednesday 8 January 2025, which will allow resources to be prioritised on grey, blue and green bin collections.

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Midlothian Festive Bin Collections

Bins (including food and glass) due to be collected on: Wednesday 25 December are scheduled to be collected on Saturday 21 December; Thursday 26 December are scheduled to be collected on Sunday 22 December; Wednesday 1 January are scheduled to be collected on Saturday 28 December; Thursday 2 January are scheduled to be collected on Sunday 29 December.

Place you bin / container out for collection for 06:30am. Collection times may vary.

Midlothian Council said: “It's been brought to our attention that waste collections due to take place over the weekends before and after Christmas will prove very difficult in some areas due to parked vehicles. Please keep access roads clear to allow our vehicles to empty bins - we won’t be able to return until the next scheduled collection day, which may be after the festive period.”

Christmas Tree Recycling

Midlothian Council does not offer separate Christmas tree collections. You can take your real tree to a Recycling Centre.

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