York's Christmas 2026 bin dates are not out yet; the council posts them in early December. Last time most bins went a day late and Saturday rounds were added.

City of York Council has not yet published its Christmas and New Year 2026 collection dates. It does not publish a festive table at all: the changes appear in each household’s own waste collection calendar, which the council says “is updated in early December to show the following year, and any changes to collection dates over the festive period” (City of York Council). Last year that update was live by 4 December.

The quick answer

  • 2026 dates are not out yet. Expect them in your online calendar in the first week of December.
  • Last time, most collections ran one day late, with Saturday rounds so every household still had its black bin emptied.
  • Garden waste ends on Friday 4 December 2026 and does not run over Christmas.

What is already fixed for this Christmas

  • The bank holidays fall on two Fridays and a Monday. Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026, the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to a substitute Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January 2027 (GOV.UK). Friday and Monday rounds are the ones most likely to move.
  • Garden waste stops for the winter on 4 December. The 2026 subscription season runs from 2 March to 4 December (City of York Council, garden waste terms).
  • Nothing changes to the containers yet. The move from recycling boxes to wheeled bins was approved on 9 September 2026 but has no start date, so this Christmas still runs on boxes. Our recycling bins story has the detail.

How York handled Christmas last time

The most detailed first-party account is the council’s Christmas waste bulletin for 2024, sent to subscribers on 2 December 2024. These are not this year’s dates. They show the shape the council used.

  • “The majority of collections in York, for both household waste and recycling will take place the day after their normal collection date.”
  • Crews worked Saturdays so that household waste for all 96,000 properties in the city was still collected.
  • The biggest change hit homes due on Christmas Day, a Wednesday that year: their household waste was collected early, on Saturday 21 December.
  • Those same homes had their last pre-Christmas recycling collection on 11 December, and the next one in January, when extra recycling was taken.
  • Households due recycling on Friday 27 December or Friday 3 January had any extra recycling taken at their next scheduled collection instead.
  • Normal days resumed on Monday 6 January 2025.

Source: City of York Council, Your Christmas Waste and Recycling special, 2 December 2024.

For Christmas 2025, the council’s families newsletter of 4 December 2025 told residents that “your waste and recycling collection days are changing this Christmas and New Year” and pointed them to the online calendar (City of York Council, Families Newsletter, 4 December 2025).

What it means for you: the pattern is a one-day slip plus Saturday catch-up rounds, but the exact shift depends on your round. This year the bank holidays land on Fridays and a Monday rather than midweek, so do not copy last year’s days. Check your own calendar once it updates in December.

How to check your own dates

  1. Go to the council’s waste collection calendar and enter your postcode and address.
  2. Use the link “View your waste and recycling calendar for the current year” to see the annual list, which runs from December to November and can be printed as a calendar or a text-only list.
  3. If you cannot get online, paper copies are available from your local Explore library or on 01904 551551.

About 2,000 hard to reach households in the city centre have their recycling collected by St Nicks rather than the council, and the council tells them to check the St Nicks website for any festive changes (City of York Council, festive opening times).

Put everything out by 7.00am on the revised day, as on a normal week. If snow stops a round, the council collects on your next scheduled day and takes extra waste then (City of York Council, waste services in winter).

The tips over Christmas

Both household waste recycling centres close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day and are otherwise open as normal (City of York Council, Hazel Court). Hazel Court needs a booking and closes every Wednesday. Towthorpe at Strensall needs no booking. Full hours for both are on our York bin collection days page.

One thing to watch this year: the council’s pages say “Boxing Day” without saying whether that means Saturday 26 December or the bank holiday on Monday 28 December. Check the site page before you drive out on either day.

Christmas trees

Real trees can go to either recycling centre. York Round Table also runs a charity scheme with the council and Yorwaste. In January 2026 it was a drop-off at Tesco Extra, Askham Bar, on Saturday 10 January, 9am to 4pm, for a suggested £5 donation to York Food Bank, or a home collection for £10 a tree, booked by 7 January for addresses inside the ring road and some nearby villages (York Round Table). The 2027 date has not been announced.

Still to confirm

  • Your revised collection days for Christmas 2026 and New Year 2027: expected in the council’s calendar in early December. We will update this page when they appear.
  • York Round Table’s January 2027 tree drop-off date and charity.
  • The council’s Christmas parking offer is on our parking in York page; road closures are on roadworks and travel.

Sources