Tis’ the season to recycle and check your bin day during the festive period

Waste and recycling bin collection changes are to take place over the Christmas and New Year period.

Leeds City Council is gearing up for the busiest time of year when it comes to bin collections, with over 8,000 tonnes of household waste and recycling collected last Christmas the equivalent weight of over 630 double decker busses

Bin collections will continue as normal up until and including Saturday 22 December. A revised schedule will be in place for the two week period between Christmas Eve – Monday 24 December and Saturday 5 January, when bins will be emptied either a day earlier or a day later than normal. The usual service will resume from Monday 7 January.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council executive member for environment and active lifestyles said:

“With so much additional waste generated at Christmas, it can be confusing knowing which items of the more seasonal items such as greetings cards and wrapping paper can go in your green bin. We have launched a new webpage with tips on dealing with the most common types of waste over the festive period at www.leeds.gov.uk/xmasbins.

We will also be sending all our residents a postcard over the coming weeks with details about the changes to collections days over the festive period.”

Festive recycling can also be taken to any of the eight household recycling centres across the city, which are open 8am to 4pm seven days a week and will close only for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Glass bottles and jars can be recycled at nearly 700 bottle banks in over 350 locations across the city. They can be found at www.leeds.gov.uk/glass or via the Leeds Bins app.

Real Christmas trees can be taken to all recycling centres, but residents with the following postcodes can help raise money for St. Gemma’s Hospice and have their trees collected from their doorstep.

The hospice collect trees from LS6, LS7, LS8, LS13, LS14, LS15, LS16, LS17, LS18, LS19, LS28, in return for a donation, which can be registered online at https://events.st-gemma.co.uk/events/christmas-tree-collection/. Collection dates are between 8 and 12 January.

To help people reduce the amount of waste they produce in the first place, the council’s team of waste advisors are offering hints, tips and ideas on Facebook and Twitter. Follow them @RecycleForLeeds or www.facebook.com/RecycleForLeeds.

Residents can check their bin collection dates at any time throughout the year by downloading the Leeds Bins app which also provides handy collection reminders straight to your phone, or visiting www.leeds.gov.uk/mybinday.