Recycling & Waste Collections Over The Holidays

Christmas and New Years always puts an extra strain on the bins. Below are details of local recycling and waste collections for areas covered by Harrogate Borough Council as well as information on how and what to recycle over the festive period.

There will be no bin collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Years Day so as a result there will be changes to when your waste will be collected over the holidays. Click here to see when your revised collection date will be. Normal service will resume on 17th January 2022.

So, can you recycle wrapping paper? The answer is it depends on the type used. Some paper, usually the shiny, foil-type paper, cannot be recycled. Take the “scrunch test” to see what paper you are likely to be able to recycle and remember to remove all sellotape before adding to the recycle bin!

Here is some useful information from the Harrogate Borough Council Website on how and what we can recycle at this time of year –

In your blue bags

• Christmas cards, envelopes and Christmas crackers (but not if they are metallic or have glitter on them)
• wrapping paper must pass the ‘scrunch test’ (if you scrunch the paper in your hand and it stays in a ball, you can put it in your blue bag)
• brown cardboard and corrugated cardboard packaging from online deliveries, toys and large electrical items (please remove all plastic packaging and labels first, then flatten and cut down the cardboard to ensure it fits in your blue bag)
• Christmas catalogues and brochures

In your black boxes

• recycle the foil from your mince pies and turkey, but please remember to rinse and remove any bits of food first
• glass food jars and glass bottles, any colour, and rinsed out
• plastic bottles, cardboard food and drinks cartons and drinks cans, all washed and squashed
• light coloured plastic packaging and plastic food trays, but please remember to rinse and remove any bits of food first

In your garden waste bin

Recycle your ‘real’ Christmas trees and festive plants (with all soil, decorations and ribbon removed). Please ensure Christmas trees are cut into small pieces with branches no larger than 10cm in diameter.