Basildon Christmas Bin Collections 2026/27: What to Expect

Basildon Borough Council has not published its Christmas and New Year collection dates for 2026/27 yet. Last year it put them in a printed calendar leaflet dated 25 November, so expect this year’s in late November.

What last year’s leaflet shows is useful now. Nothing moved before Christmas Day. From Christmas Day onwards every collection ran between one and four days late, Saturdays included, until rounds returned to normal on Monday 19 January.

The quick answer

• 2026/27 dates: not published yet. Last year’s revised calendar is dated 25 November 2025 (Basildon Council collection calendar PDF)
• Last year, bins due on Christmas Day went on Monday 29 December, and later rounds slipped until everything was back to normal on Monday 19 January 2026
• Garden waste stopped for three weeks last year, from 25 December to 16 January, restarting on 19 January

Why 2026 will look different again

The bank holidays land on different days this year. Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026, Boxing Day moves to a substitute Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January 2027 (GOV.UK).

Last year Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fell on a Thursday. This year two Fridays and a Monday are lost, so the 2025 table below cannot simply be moved forward a year. Use it as a guide to how Basildon handles the break, not as your dates.

Last year’s pattern: Christmas 2025/26

This is the council’s own table for the rubbish, food waste and recycling bag collections. These are not this year’s dates.

Two things stand out. The catch-up ran for almost four weeks, far longer than most councils manage. And three of the revised days were Saturdays, so a Thursday or Wednesday household could find its bins going out at the weekend.

The orange glass box moves too, but only on its week

Glass is the only fortnightly collection in Basildon (see Basildon bin collection days). The council printed two versions of the leaflet, one for each glass week. On the week-one calendar, the orange box followed the same revised day as the black bin in the weeks it was due, and showed “non-glass collection week” in the others.

So check which glass week you are on before you read any table. The Where I Live lookup and the Our Streets Basildon app show both for your address.

Garden waste: three weeks off

Last winter the leaflet said there would be no garden waste collections from Thursday 25 December 2025 until Friday 16 January 2026, with collections resuming from Monday 19 January 2026.

The council’s garden waste page still says the service is suspended for three weeks over Christmas and New Year, with dates to be confirmed. The subscription terms say six weeks. Last year it was three.

The same leaflet asked residents to put a real Christmas tree out next to the green garden waste bin on their collection day once collections restarted.

Recycling carries on

The leaflet was clear that recycling does not stop over Christmas: “Recycling collections carry on throughout the Christmas period.” Everything has to be at the boundary of the property, visible to the crews, by 7.30am on the revised day.

The council also said its annual delivery of food caddy liners would be finished by Christmas, along with the blue and white recycling bags. If the liners run out, it suggests newspaper, or buying more from The Basildon Centre, libraries or supermarkets.

The tip over Christmas

Barleylands Recycling Centre, run by the borough, kept these hours last year, according to the same leaflet:

Pitsea Recycling Centre is run by Essex County Council, with different hours and a van booking rule. Both are covered on our bin collection days page.

What is still to be confirmed

• The 2026/27 revised calendar. Last year’s was dated 25 November. We will add the new table here when the council publishes it.
• The garden waste break. Three weeks last year; this year’s dates are “TBC” on the council’s page.

Getting about over the holidays: Basildon Christmas train times, parking in Basildon and Basildon roadworks.

Sources

• Basildon Council, Christmas and New Year recycling and rubbish collections leaflet, dated 25 November 2025 (PDF)
• Basildon Council, garden waste subscription service
• GOV.UK, bank holidays in England and Wales