Recycle it right this Christmas and New Year

We are encouraging residents to check for changes to their weekly waste and recycling collections this Christmas.

The festive season is the only time the council’s kerbside collection days change, please check the below table for more information on this year’s revised collection dates:

There will be no brown bin or bulky collections from Thursday, 22 December 2022 until Monday, 9 January 2023.

If your normal collection day is on a Monday or Tuesday, your last collection before Christmas is Monday, 19 December and Tuesday, 20 December 2022.

Residents will have all their rubbish collected, including brown bins, on their normal day from Monday, 9 January 2023.

Waste and recycling must be put out by 7am and the council’s waste collection crews will work until dusk each day. Unfortunately, crews will not be able to return for individual missed collections.

Christmas recycling tips

Medway’s collection crews have some top tips for recycling over Christmas and New Year:

• Christmas trees: leave any real Christmas trees next to your brown bin for collection from Monday, 9 January 2023
• Wrapping paper: if wrapping paper scrunches, put it in your blue-reusable bag. Unfortunately, foil or glittery paper cannot be recycled.
• Bottles and cans: place your bottles and cans into your white re-usable bag or clear sack. Please wash and squash and put the lid back on.
• Use caddy liners: caddy liners will help keep food contained and your brown bin cleaner, until brown bin collections resume. Residents can buy 26 liners for just £2 from their local library or community hub.
• Snow: if it snows, services may be cancelled so check social media for updates (@MedwayRecycles or @medway_council on Twitter and search Medway Council – service updates and information on Facebook).

Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs)

The council’s HWRCs at Capstone (Chatham), Hoath Way (Gillingham) and Cuxton will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Tuesday, 27 December, Sunday, 1 January 2023 and Monday, 2 January 2023. They will reopen as normal from Tuesday, 3 January 2023. However, if you would like to visit one of the HWRCs you must book your trip in advance using the council’s online booking service. There is no limit to how many trips residents can book. To book, visit: medway.gov.uk/tipbooking

Reporting fly-tipping this festive season

If you think rubbish has been illegally dumped in a public area you can report it online by visiting medway.gov.uk/flytipping. Residents are encouraged to include details of where the fly-tipping is, what the rubbish is and how much has been dumped.

Thank you to our collection crews

Ian Gilmore, Medway Council’s Head of Regulatory and Environmental Services, said: “I would like to thank our collection crews for their continued hard work collecting residents’ waste and recycling all year round. Over the festive period our crews collect more waste than normal and it is important that we all continue to recycle. I would encourage residents to use their blue and white re-usable bags and visit their local library or community hub to collect more or order them online, if needed. Recycling correctly can really make a difference and supports our climate change ambitions to achieve net zero carbon across Medway by 2050. It is incredibly important that we all continue to dispose of our waste responsibly to protect our local environment and help keep Medway clean and tidy.”

Find out more.