Christmas Day and New Year's Day are both Fridays this year. Last time that happened, only Friday rounds moved, to the Saturday. What we know, and what is due.

Wandsworth Council has not published its Christmas 2026 bin schedule yet. It has always published one, and the rule it follows is simple: only the rounds that land on a bank holiday move, by one day. This year Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on a Friday, so if the council follows its own precedent, Friday households are the only ones affected.

The quick answer

Expect Friday rounds to move to Saturday, twice: Friday 25 December to Saturday 26 December, and Friday 1 January to Saturday 2 January 2027. Monday to Thursday rounds should run as normal. This is the pattern from 2020, the last year the calendar fell the same way, and it is not yet confirmed for 2026. The council published last year’s table on or before 2 December, and we will update this page when it does.

What happened the last time Christmas fell on a Friday

Christmas 2020 had exactly this year’s shape: Christmas Day on a Friday, Boxing Day on a Saturday, the substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day on a Friday. The council’s Christmas collections page for that year, archived on 24 December 2020, said collections would run on the normal day “apart from Christmas Day (Friday 25 December 2020) and New Year’s Day (Friday 1 January 2021)”.

Normal day (2020) Revised day
Friday 25 December Saturday 26 December
Monday 28 December Monday 28 December, no change
Tuesday 29 December No change
Wednesday 30 December No change
Thursday 31 December No change
Friday 1 January Saturday 2 January

The detail worth knowing: the Monday substitute bank holiday did not move the Monday round. Crews worked it. Only the two Friday rounds slid into the weekend.

If 2026 repeats that, it would look like this. These are our projections from the 2020 table, not council dates:

Normal day (2026) Likely revised day
Friday 25 December Saturday 26 December
Monday 28 December No change
Tuesday 29 to Thursday 31 December No change
Friday 1 January 2027 Saturday 2 January 2027

The last two Christmases, for comparison

The same rule held in both years. In 2024, when Christmas Day was a Wednesday, the council ran a revised schedule from 25 December to 4 January, according to its Services over Christmas page as archived on 19 December 2024: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday rounds each moved a day in both holiday weeks, and Monday and Tuesday did not.

In 2025, with Christmas on a Thursday, only Thursday and Friday rounds moved, into the Friday and Saturday, according to the same page archived on 8 December 2025:

Normal day (2025) Revised day
Thursday 25 December Friday 26 December
Friday 26 December Saturday 27 December
Monday 29 to Wednesday 31 December No change
Thursday 1 January Friday 2 January
Friday 2 January Saturday 3 January

That page carried the line “Updated: 02/12/2025”. The 2024 version was updated on 17 December 2024. So the 2026 table is likely to appear in the first half of December. The live page at the same address currently returns a 404, which is normal for this council out of season.

What goes out, and when

Nothing about the service changes at Christmas except the day. All four streams go out together, weekly: rubbish in a dustbin or tied sack, recycling in the council’s clear sacks, food waste in the brown caddy, and small electricals loose beside them. Put everything out after 6.30pm the night before, and by 6.30am on the day. Houses in Wandsworth do not have wheelie bins, and the council will not empty one. The full rules are on our Wandsworth bin collection days page.

To check your own day, Wandsworth’s My Property lookup on the council site gives the next date for each stream from a postcode.

Christmas trees

Real trees are collected free in January. For 2026 the council said on its Christmas trees page, archived on 30 December 2025, that collections started on Monday 5 January and ran through the month, on the same day as rubbish and recycling but by a different vehicle.

  • Put the tree out after 6.30pm the night before, and by 6.30am. If you have a front garden it goes next to your sacks, not on the street. Without a front garden, put it outside your door without blocking the pavement. Flats leave it near the bin store.
  • The council will not take a tree that is artificial, still decorated, in a pot or stand, in soil, or over 6ft. Cut a tall one down.
  • Drop-off points ran from 26 December 2025 to 31 January 2026, including Battersea Park’s Albert Bridge and Chelsea Gate car parks, Acanthus Road, Cobham Close, Cortis Road shops, Roehampton Youth Club on Holybourne Avenue, the Dr Johnson car park on Tooting Common, Tooting Leisure Centre and Burr Road car park.

Last winter set a record: more than 212 tonnes of real trees, around 13,000 of them, were recycled, and crews cleared 325 reports of abandoned trees, according to the council’s February 2026 release.

The January 2027 dates are not published yet.

The tip over Christmas

The Smugglers Way household waste and recycling centre, SW18 1JS, is open 9am to 4pm on weekdays, 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and 8am to 5pm on Sundays, and car users have to book a slot. The council’s Smugglers Way page says it is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

One thing to check nearer the time: the council’s own Christmas 2025 page said instead that the centre “will be open as normal over Christmas”. The two council pages disagree, and the booking system is the only place a slot can be confirmed. The 2024 Christmas page matched the closures, listing the centre shut on 25 and 26 December and 1 January.

Still to be confirmed

  • The 2026 revised collection table: expected late November or early December 2026.
  • Christmas tree collection dates for January 2027 and the drop-off points.
  • Smugglers Way’s opening on Boxing Day, which falls on a Saturday this year.

Parking is free in most marked bays on bank holidays; see parking in Wandsworth. For road closures over the holiday, see Wandsworth roadworks and travel.