People living in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole need to be aware of changes to their rubbish collection dates over the festive period.

There will be no bin collections on Boxing Day, Monday 26 December, and as a result residents’ usual rubbish, recycling and food waste dates will be pushed back by one day. Crews will be working on Saturday 31 December to accommodate these changes and it will be business as usual for the BCP bin collections crews across the rest of the festive period.

Although BCP Council encourages everyone to attempt to reduce waste this Christmas, if residents do have any extra rubbish or recycling, this can be taken to one of the three Recycling Centres across the conurbation. These include Millhams, Longham; Wilverley Road, Christchurch; Nuffield, Poole. All sites are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

BCP Council does not collect or recycle real Christmas trees, but these can be taken to the recycling centres or to Upton Country Park in Poole for composting between 27 December and 10 January 2023. Christmas trees can also be recycled in a sustainable fashion through local charities Diverse Abilities and Lewis Manning, who can collect and dispose of them for a small fee.

Cllr Mark Anderson, portfolio holder for Environment and Place said: “From an ecological and sustainability angle, reducing consumption, reusing and recycling is vitally important all year round but particularly relevant at Christmas. As a council we are committed to creating a more sustainable environment and it is lots of small changes to people’s behaviours that help to make a big difference.

“My thanks go out as ever to the bin collection crews who will be working tirelessly to ensure everyone has a great, rubbish-free Christmas!”