Festive Collection Changes
The festive fortnight always means some changes to kerbside collection days to accommodate bank holidays (see below).
In the event of disruption to collections at this busy time of year, rubbish collections will be prioritised. The most up to date information will be available on the on the SWP website.
Usual collection day Revised collection day
Friday 24 December No change
Monday 27 December Tuesday 28 December
Tuesday 28 December Wednesday 29 December
Wednesday 29 December Thursday 30 December
Thursday 30 December Friday 31 December
Friday 31 December Sunday 2 January
Monday 3 January Tuesday 4 January
Tuesday 4 January Wednesday 5 January
Wednesday 5 January Thursday 6 January
Thursday 6 January Friday 7 January
Friday 7 January Saturday 8 January
South Somerset residents will be able to check their days on the printed Recycle More collection day calendars.
Check online – check collections days for the festive period and beyond using the My Collection Day online calendar on the SWP homepage. Remember to leave a gap in the middle of your postcode (e.g. AB1 2CD). Better still, download your dates into your laptop or mobile device’s calendar and get reminders before each collection day.
Garden waste collections – as usual, there are no collections over the festive fortnight. Collections scheduled to resume in the week beginning 10 January.
Park Smart – residents are encouraged to park responsibly. Collection vehicles cannot make collections if they cannot access properties – and if a collection vehicle cannot get through, neither can a fire appliance.
This is always an important issue over the festive period with people on leave, but even more so with more people working from home.
Recycling site opening hours
All sites stay on their usual weekly winter schedules: All 16 open 9am to 4pm Saturdays and Sundays, and up to 12 open 9am to 5pm on weekdays.
All closed on three days: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day.
Check online for details of your nearest site’s opening schedule, here.
Two sites have extra, one-off opening days to help cope with post-Christmas waste
- Dulverton: Monday 27 December, 9am to 5pm.
- Crewkerne: Tuesday 28 December, 9am to 5pm.
Over the festive period, all sites will have special bins for recyclable wrapping paper.
Recycling sites should be used to recycle large pieces of cardboard.
Disposing of real Christmas trees
The greenest way to dispose of a real Christmas tree is to chip it and compost it at home if you can or use it to attract wildlife in your garden.
Recycling sites: All 16 sites can take trees (decoration-free, max trunk diameter of six inches) in the garden waste skip. They will be composted to produce the soil conditioner.
Garden waste subscribers: Remove decorations and leave your tree – up to six-feet - next to your green bin for your first 2022 collection.
Charity collections: Some charities offer kerbside collections for a donation.
These include Dorothy House and St Margaret’s hospices. Collections for both must be booked in advance online.
- Dorothy House Hospice Care (dorothyhouse.org.uk) can collect from the Frome and Shepton Mallet area and all these postcodes: BA1, BA2, BA3, BA4, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA15, SN11, SN12, SN13, SN14, SN15, SN16 and BS31.
Register your collection before 23.59 on Monday 3 January.
- St Margaret’s Hospice Care (st-margarets-hospice.org.uk) can collect from around Bridgwater, Taunton, Wellington and Yeovil including these postcodes TA1, TA2, BA20, BA21 and parts of TA3, TA4, TA5, TA6, TA21 and BA22.
Register your collection before 23.59 on Monday 3 January.
Other options: Look out for other charity collections, environmental schemes that need trees, or for zoos or farms that want Christmas trees as food or fun for animals.
Wasting less this Christmas
For lots of information on how to reduce, reuse and recycling this Christmas, visit the Somerset website