Suffolk Christmas and New Year bin collection changes revealed
Christmas is the season of festive cheer, good food and spending time with family and friends.
It's also the season of filling up your rubbish bin with tonnes of wrapping paper and excess pigs in blankets, and bin collection days often change around the big day making it harder to know when your rubbish will be collected.
Check our guide below for the Christmas and new year bin schedule across the county.
West Suffolk
West Suffolk council are urging residents to check the date their bins will be emptied this Christmas and New Year period as rounds will come later than normal.
A council spokesperson has said crews will be working on Saturdays to make up the time for missed bank holidays, and that rounds will be normal from January 24 2022.
Residents are also being asked to recycle as much as they can to help reduce waste and use local recycling centres.
For exact dates, West Suffolk residents can go online and put their postcode into a checker to see when their bins will next be emptied.
Councillor Peter Stevens, Portfolio Holder for Operations, said: “Due to the way the Christmas and New Year holidays fall we are collecting bins later than normal.
"We are urging everyone to check when they need to put their bins out during this time and make a note of it as well as looking to see if they can recycle more.
"We would also like to thank everyone for the amazing support you have given our bin crews through the pandemic and the challenges they have faced.
"The letters and pictures left on bins or stuck up on windows have really made a difference. I know they would like to wish all the residents they serve a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”
East Suffolk
East Suffolk residents will experience no changes to bin collections during the festive period this year.
However, the council are urging people to make sure they leave your bins out on your normal collection days by 6am latest.
They are also asking for residents to be mindful of their waste this year as an estimated 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging and 83km2 of wrapping paper is thrown away in the UK every Christmas.
Cllr James Mallinder, East Suffolk’s cabinet member for the Environment said: “Christmas is a wonderful time for relaxing, enjoying ourselves and spending time with friends and family.
“Christmas is also a time where a huge amount of additional waste is created and much of this can be recycled. We appreciate that what can and cannot be recycled in the blue bin at home can be confusing however paper, card, plastic bottles and cans can all easily be recycled.
"If residents are unsure whether an item is recyclable, we would urge them to check the Suffolk Recycling website or ask us through social media.
“We would also like to encourage people to consider what they are buying this Christmas and choose recyclable materials if possible, as well as being mindful of overbuying food which may ultimately go to waste.
"There is a wealth of ways we can help reduce the amount of waste produced this Christmas and if each household can make just a few small changes, it would make a huge difference across East Suffolk.”
Ipswich
Ipswich residents will experience no changes to their black or blue bin collections over the holidays, but the brown bin service will be paused for two weeks after Christmas.
Brown bin collections will take place as normal week commencing December 21. There will be no collection between December 28 and January 10.
Collections will begin again as normal from January 11.
To check your collection day, visit the council website and search your street name.
Babergh and Mid Suffolk
In the Babergh and Mid Suffolk districts, collections will take place as scheduled, until Christmas Day.
Then, from December 27 to January 22, refuse and recycling collections will be amended as a result of public holidays.
Bins due to be collected on December 27, 28 and 29 will be collected two days later. Bins due to be collected on December 30 and 31 will be collected five days later.
Those scheduled to be collected on January 3, 4, and 5 will be collected 3 days later, while those due on January 6 and 7 will be collected four days later.
Bins due to be collected between January 10 and 13 will be delayed by two days, and on the 14 they will be delayed by three days.
Between January 17 and 21, bin collection will be delayed by one day.
