Christmas and New Year Waste & Recycling Updates, including a Weekly Food Waste Update

Details of the revised schedule are listed below, along with information on Household Recycling Centre opening times, Christmas tree recycling options, and the introduction of weekly food waste collections coming in 2026.

Revised Waste Collection Days

During the Christmas and New Year period waste collection days will change which can be seen in the table below.

Residents can also download a collection calendar from www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk/bins.

Household Recycling Centres

The household recycling centres will close at 1pm on Christmas Eve and will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk for more information.

Give Your Christmas Tree a Second Life!

Once the festivities are over, don’t let your Christmas tree go to waste, recycle it and help it become something wonderful! There are plenty of easy, eco-friendly ways to make sure your tree gives back to nature and your community.

Here’s how you can recycle your tree:
• Kerbside Collection: Simply place your real Christmas tree next to your garden waste bin on collection day.  If your tree is taller than your bin, please cut it in half so it can be collected easily.
• Household Recycling Centres: You can also take your tree to your local centre for recycling.

Support a Heartwarming Cause!
This year, we’re proud to support East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices Christmas Tree Recycling.

Trees will be collected on 8th and 9th January 2026, and all donations will go directly towards caring for babies, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions, as well as supporting their families.

Register from 14th November 2025 to have your tree collected and make a difference this Christmas:  https://just-helping.org.uk/register-tree/

Weekly Food Waste Collections

The government’s new Consistent Recycling Reforms will make recycling simpler and more effective across England. From March 2026, all councils will collect the same core materials — paper and card, plastics, metals, glass, and food waste — helping to reduce landfill and support the UK’s net-zero ambitions.

What This Means for You

We’re introducing weekly food waste collections starting April 2026, making it easier for you to recycle more and waste less.

By March 2026, every household will receive — free of charge:
• A 7-litre grey kitchen caddy for food waste storage indoors
• A 23-litre external grey food waste bin for weekly kerbside collection

You can put all food waste into your kitchen caddy, including:
🥩 Cooked and raw meat and bones
🥛 Dairy products
🥚 Eggshells
🍎 Fruit and vegetables
☕ Tea bags and coffee grounds

Simply transfer the contents from your kitchen caddy to your external bin for your weekly collection.

For Residents with Communal Waste Collections

Each household will receive a 7-litre kitchen caddy, and you’ll have access to a shared communal food waste bin. We’re working with property managers and housing providers to ensure every site has the right facilities and collection arrangements in place.

Why It Matters

This new service forms part of our ongoing commitment to support the national recycling reforms, reduce the amount of food waste sent to landfill, and promote greener, more sustainable communities for everyone.

Food waste collected from households is recycled through a process called Anaerobic Digestion (AD), which breaks down the waste without oxygen. This process generates biogas used to produce electricity, heat, or fuel, and a nutrient-rich digestate for fertiliser.  Recycling food waste in this way helps create renewable energy, reduces landfill use, improves soil health, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions.