Chichester District sets its Christmas bin dates in December; it published on 12 December last year. Last year's table, what changes in 2026, and garden waste.

Chichester District Council has not published its Christmas 2026 bin dates yet. It normally does so in the second week of December: the 2025 schedule came out on 12 December 2025 and the 2024 one on 9 December 2024. Until then, last year’s table below is the best guide to how far the rounds slip, but it is not this year’s timetable.

The quick answer

  • No 2026 dates yet. Expect them around 7 to 12 December, on the council’s website and app.
  • Last year every round ran late until mid-January. A Friday round went out on Tuesday 30 December, Tuesday 6 January, Monday 12 January and Saturday 17 January.
  • Garden waste stops over Christmas. Last year it stopped on Friday 19 December and restarted on Monday 5 January.

Checked on 25 September 2026.

Last year’s Christmas dates (2025/26)

These are the dates Chichester District Council published in its festive collections release on 12 December 2025. They applied to general waste and recycling. They are last year’s dates, not this year’s.

Normal day Week of 15 Dec Christmas week New Year week Week after Week of 12 Jan
Monday Mon 15 Dec Mon 22 Dec Wed 31 Dec Wed 7 Jan Tue 13 Jan
Tuesday Tue 16 Dec Tue 23 Dec Fri 2 Jan Thu 8 Jan Wed 14 Jan
Wednesday Wed 17 Dec Wed 24 Dec Sat 3 Jan Fri 9 Jan Thu 15 Jan
Thursday Thu 18 Dec Mon 29 Dec Mon 5 Jan Sat 10 Jan Fri 16 Jan
Friday Fri 19 Dec Tue 30 Dec Tue 6 Jan Mon 12 Jan Sat 17 Jan

Two things stand out. Collections ran on three Saturdays (3, 10 and 17 January), and the catch-up took until the third week of January. The council’s table labels its fifth column only “Week commencing”; the dates in it fall in the week of 12 January.

The year before was similar. In the 2024/25 schedule, Wednesday’s Christmas-week round moved to Friday 27 December, Friday’s moved to Monday 30 December, and the Friday round was still a day late, on Saturday 11 January, two weeks later.

Why 2026 will look different

The bank holidays land on different days this year. From the GOV.UK bank holiday list:

  • Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026
  • the Boxing Day holiday moves to Monday 28 December
  • New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January 2027

Last year Christmas fell on a Thursday. This year the lost days are two Fridays and a Monday, so the rounds most likely to move are Friday’s (twice) and Monday’s in the week after Christmas. The council’s own waste and recycling collection policy says it collects on every bank holiday “throughout the year” except over Christmas and New Year, so do not assume a normal Monday on 28 December.

Garden waste, extra rubbish and Christmas trees

  • Garden waste pauses. In 2025 the green bin service stopped on Friday 19 December and restarted on Monday 5 January 2026. In 2024 it stopped on Friday 20 December and restarted on Monday 6 January. The 2026 dates come with the main schedule.
  • Extra waste is taken once. Crews pick up extra waste on the first collection after Christmas. Extra recycling has to be kept dry in a loosely tied black sack beside the recycling bin, with cardboard flattened and the bin lid able to close.
  • Not recyclable: polystyrene, foam and plastic wrapping film go in the general waste bin.
  • Real trees. St Wilfrid’s Hospice runs a TreeCycle collection for a suggested £15 donation. Its January 2026 round collected 1,800 trees and raised £32,058. In 2025 collections ran from 10 to 13 January and bookings closed on 6 January. Under its terms, trees over 6ft must be cut up and all decorations removed.

If something goes wrong over Christmas

Last year the council’s offices at East Pallant House closed at 1pm on Wednesday 24 December and reopened at 9am on Friday 2 January, according to its Christmas closure notice. The out-of-hours emergency line is 01243 785339. You can still check your own dates on the council’s Check your bin day page and set reminders in its app.

The tips follow separate rules and close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. See our Chichester tip opening times page, which also covers the Selsey and Witterings mobile tips that miss a date over Christmas. For the normal fortnightly pattern, see Chichester bin collection days.

Still to be confirmed

  • The 2026/27 revised collection dates for every round.
  • Garden waste stop and restart dates.
  • St Wilfrid’s TreeCycle dates and booking deadline for January 2027.

We will update this page as soon as the council publishes, which we expect in the week of 7 December.