Christmas recycling

Will my food waste, mixed recycling or rubbish collections change over Christmas and New Year?

This information is for residents who receive a kerbside collection service (bags/small bins) for their mixed recycling, food waste or household rubbish only.

If your regular collection day is a Wednesday, our crews will not collect your waste on Wednesday 25 December 2024. Instead, you will have a special collection on Saturday 28 December 2024.

There are no other changes to any other day or bank holiday. All kerbside collections will take place as normal apart from Wednesday 25 December 2024.

Special Saturday collection

If your regular collection day is a Wednesday, our crews will collect your food waste, mixed recycling and rubbish as part of a special catch-up collection on Saturday 28 December 2024.

Please note if your property normally receives two or more rubbish or mixed recycling collections a week, you will not receive a special Saturday collection. Please use your other regular collections in the week.

Please do not leave your food waste, recycling or rubbish out for collection on Wednesday 25 December.

If you have additional waste, please take it to your nearest on-street micro-recycling centre or rubbish bin:

• Find your nearest micro-recycling centre
• Find your nearest neighbourhood food waste bin

Communal recycling and rubbish collections

Properties with communal recycling and household rubbish collections will not have any collections on Wednesday 25 December 2024, Christmas Day.

The Wednesday collections will be replaced with a collection on another day of the week. However, buildings that have their bins emptied on a Wednesday and receive two or more rubbish collections per week will not receive any replacement collections.   All other collections in the week will be as scheduled except on 25 December 2024.

To report any missed collections:

• To report any communal food waste bin missed collections: Property Results | Resident Service Portal (echoweb.co.uk)
• To report any communal (or kerbside) mixed recycling or rubbish missed collections: Report a missed waste collection · Customer Self-Service (westminster.gov.uk)

On-demand food waste collection changes

This information is for residents living in suitable properties in St James’s, Marylebone and West End wards who use our on-demand food waste service. 

There will be a change in the availability of on-demand food waste booking slots over the festive period:

• Christmas Eve Tuesday 24 December - collection slots available as normal
• Christmas Day Wednesday 25 December - service is not available
• Boxing Day Thursday 26 December - collection slots available as normal
• New Year’s Eve Tuesday 31 December - collection slots available as normal
•  New Year’s Day Wednesday 1 January - collection slots available as normal

Remember you can also use your local neighbourhood food waste bins in your area:

• Luxborough Street junction with Marylebone Road, Marylebone ward
• Marylebone High Street (next to The St Marylebone CE School/Cavendish Health Centre) micro-recycling centre, Marylebone ward
• Marylebone Road opposite Council House/outside Old Town Hall, Marylebone ward
• Moxon Street junction with Aybrook Street, Marylebone ward
• Paddington Street, opposite Paddington Street Gardens/Chiltern Place, micro-recycling centre, Marylebone ward
• Weymouth Street junction with Great Portland Street (157 Weymouth Street) micro-recycling centre, West End
• Wigmore Street junction with Welbeck Street, West End ward

Commercial waste collection changes over Christmas

Please visit festive season recycling and waste management for more information about changes for commercial waste collections over the festive period.

How do I recycle my real Christmas tree in Westminster?

Westminster has over 25 recycling points for real Christmas trees. You can take your tree to a drop-off point from the start of Thursday 26 December 2024 to the end of the day Sunday 19 January 2025.

Opening hours are 8am to 8pm unless they are in parks, which close at 4.30pm.

Please remove all decorations, stands and netting from the tree before bringing it to a recycling point. Only trees taken to recycling points will be recycled and turned into woodchip and soil improver. 

Please use the online map to find your nearest recycling point drop-off location: Christmas Tree drop-off sites.

Tips for a sustainable Christmas

Christmas is a time for celebration, but we can still do our part to reduce our impact on the environment. Here are some tips to make your holidays more sustainable.

Wrapping paper 

• Try cloth wrapping. Use old scraps of fabric or even buy a few scarves from charity shops to wrap gifts. It will be like two gifts in one
• Reuse your wrapping paper and gift bags for another gift. Unwrap gifts carefully to avoid tearing the paper, saving money and time.
• Buy wrapping paper that can be recycled. Please avoid sparkles and glitter and buy recyclable wrapping paper that can be put in your mixed recycling. 

Food 

• Use the whole vegetable: vegetables like carrots, potatoes, broccoli, pumpkin and many more can be eaten in their entirety. No need to throw out parts of the vegetables - cook the whole thing. For more tips to reduce food waste and eat sustainably visit the Eat Like a Londoner website.
• Buy seasonal: buying food that’s in season is more sustainable because it requires less transportation, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions.  
• Use your food waste recycling service: pick up your free liners from your nearest library and recycle any food that cannot be eaten, frozen or reused.