Sheffield bin collection dates Christmas 2021: Xmas and New Year timetable in full - and are there any changes

It’s the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ – filled with mince pies, mulled wine and as much chocolate as you can stomach.

But indulging so much and spending so much time at home over Christmas can lead to waste building up, with overflowing bins and recycling boxes.

With that in mind, getting your bins emptied is a top priority over the festive season to make sure you don’t have piles of rubbish building up outside your door.

As the Christmas season brings bank holidays, days off work and a rather hectic schedule, there can be changes to the timings of bin collections, so it is always important to check ahead of time.

Sheffield City Council contracts its bin collections out to company Veolia, who went on strike earlier this year.

More than 100 bin collectors took part in a protest march and rally in November after voting for industrial action following a below-inflation pay offer from Veolia.

It led to 71,211 delayed collections out of a total 485,441 scheduled black bin and recycling collections.

The industrial action lasted from November 8 to 17. The GMB Union said refuse workers had voted to strike after Veolia management ‘broke the bank’ to bring in agency staff in an attempt, the union said, to undermine their industrial action.

Multiple areas in Sheffield, including Ranmoor and Walkely, missed out on a week of bin collections in light of the strike.

But when will Veolia workers be coming to collect the bins over Christmas? This is everything you need to know.

When will the bins be emptied in Sheffield over Christmas and New Year?

Sheffield City Council has published a new schedule which lists all of its bin collection dates this December and into 2022, including the collections over Christmas.

However, it does say some of these dates could be subject to change, so it is always worth checking beforehand.

All of the dates for collections depend on where you live, but there is a postcode checker on the council website so you can check the exact dates for your area.

With the way that Christmas falls this year, Veolia has said there will be no changes to bin collections in Sheffield over the festive period, so your usual collection dates will still stand.

You can check these on the online timetable on the council website, or use the postcode finder.

To be collected, bins must be placed out by 7am on collection day with the bin lid closed.

What do I do if I have extra waste over Christmas?

The good news is that there are plenty of options if you end up with more waste than usual this Christmas.

Veolia is reminding residents that paper and card including wrapping paper, Christmas cards, boxes and catalogues, can be recycled in the blue bin.

Glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, biscuit and chocolate tins can all be recycled in the brown bin.

If you have extra paper and card, this can be placed in a small bundle (no bigger than your bin) next to your blue bin in order to be collected.

Veolia has also said that up to two extra bags of tins, cans and plastic bottles will be collected between December 27 and January 21.

The company says they should be placed inside a carrier bag, tied and then put out for collection next to the brown bin. Glass bottles or jars must be placed inside brown bins, otherwise the extra recycling will not be collected.

The same will be applied for the black bin between these dates.

When will Sheffield Household Waste Recycling Centres be open over Christmas?

If you have a lot of extra waste or don’t want to wait for it to be collected, you can take it to one of the city’s Household Waste Recycling Centres.

The winter opening times are from 9.30am until 3.30pm, however sites will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

They will also close at 3pm on Christmas Eve and New Yearche’s Eve.

Residents are advised to check site opening days before planning a visit.

For up-to-date information and service alerts about your recycling and waste collections, you can visit the Sheffield City Council website or follow @Recycle4Shef on Twitter.