There will be no rubbish, food (for Bournemouth and Christchurch) or recycling bin collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day.

Catch-up collections will run from 27 December–13 January 2024, with some collections taking place on Saturdays. All residents need to remember to put their bins out by 5am on their revised collection day.

Any extra rubbish and recycling can be taken to the recycling centres at Bournemouth, Longham; Christchurch, Wilverley Road; or Poole, Nuffield with sites open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. They will be closing early at 1pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

If you’re planning to rock around a real Christmas tree, don’t forget to book in early to ‘treecycle’ through local charities including Diverse Abilities, Dorset Mind, Julia’s House and Lewis-Manning. For a small fee, they will collect the real tree and dispose of it from the kerbside in early January 2024.

Alternatively, trees can be chopped up and added to garden waste bins, ready for the extra collection for the 2024 service from the end of January.

Mindful that festive waste is very often not recyclable, BCP Council is encouraging residents to reduce, re-use and recycle.

The authority has come up with seven tips.

1. Consider buying your Christmas presents at the council’s ‘new to you’ reclaim shop at Cabot Lane in Poole, buy from charity shops, or get a gift to support those in need around the world
2. Reuse wrapping paper and recycle last year’s Christmas cards into parcel labels
3. Buy rechargeable batteries for children’s toys and electrical goods
4. Turn leftover food into tasty meals following recipes from Love Food Hate Waste
5. Avoid single use or disposable items like cutlery and plates
6. Consider buying ethical gifts or those with less packaging
7. Visit refill shops to cut out the extra waste

Cllr Andy Hadley, portfolio holder for Climate Response, Environment and Energy said: “We all need to become more environmentally friendly and small changes can make all the difference, especially at Christmas when more gets consumed, and more waste is generated.

“From reusing last year’s wrapping paper and reducing your food waste, to recycling your mulled wine bottles and remembering to put bins out on the revised collection dates, everything needs to be considered when thinking about a green and more sustainable Christmas.

“My thanks go to the waste teams who will be working hard over the festive period in all weather, as well as all the other council staff working over these important dates to aim to ensure everyone has a great seasonal holiday.”