Binmen will work through holidays to deal with festive waste

Binmen collect rubbish at Christmas. Picture: Toby Williams

And today council chiefs issued a plea to residents to recycle as much of their Christmas waste as possible.

To make it as easy as possible, there will be no change to normal kerbside waste and recycling collection dates.

And communal bin collections will be largely unaffected, but with additional collections for glass and packaging if required.

Transport and environment convener Councillor Lesley Hinds said: “It is with thanks to the efforts of staff working over the festive period that we are able to continue waste collections with no break, which I’m sure will be welcomed by all households.

“There’s no doubt that the amount of rubbish we throw out increases at this time of year – from wrapping paper to leftover food.

“It’s important to remember that much of this can be recycled so make sure you make use of recycling bins over Christmas and New Year.

“Last year we saw an eight per cent increase in recycling over the festive period compared to the year before, with a 7.5 per cent drop in the amount of waste sent to landfill. People are already making an effort so we want to make preparing for and clearing up after Christmas as easy as possible.”

Residents across the city will be able to put out their grey and green wheelie bins, food waste bins and red and blue boxes on the usual days, including on Monday December 26, Tuesday December 27, Monday January 2 and Tuesday January 3.

The Evening News launched a Bin Watch campaign earlier in the year to highlight a growing problem of overflowing bins across the Capital.

Conservative transport and environment spokesman Nick Cook said: “It’s to be welcomed that the waste collection service will continue operating during the festive season.

“I hope the council is fully prepared for an increase in the volume of waste. Councillors will be monitoring the service very closely, given the many problems with the waste collection service which have been very evident in recent times.”

Green environment spokesman Chas Booth also welcomed the festive bins arrangements.

“It’s good news the collection schedule will be the same as normal over the festive period when there is a lot more waste,” he said. “We would obviously encourage everyone to recycle - or indeed re-use because quite often gift wrap can be folded up and put away for next year.

“The council has more to do in encouraging waste reduction and retailers have got a lot more to do in reducing the amount of packaging they use.”

Residents across the city will be able to recycle real Christmas trees, which will be collected by the council and turned into compost.

Those with a brown bin are asked to place their tree on the kerbside by 6am on their next garden waste collection day.

Residents in communal areas who use on-street shared bins can leave their tree on the pavement outside their property on designated collection dates  during January.

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