Richmond Christmas Bin Collections: Only Fridays Move

Richmond upon Thames has not yet published its Christmas 2026 collection dates. It does not need to say much when it does, because the council’s standing rule is short: rubbish, food and recycling are collected as normal on every bank holiday except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, and when either falls on a weekday the rest of that week’s collections run one day late. Both dates fall on a Friday this winter, so under that rule only the Friday rounds move.

Last year’s revised schedule went up on 18 December 2025. This page carries the council’s rule, what happened last Christmas, the tree recycling dates and the January garden waste pause, and it will be updated the day the 2026 table appears.

The quick answer

• Christmas Day (Friday 25 December 2026) and New Year’s Day (Friday 1 January 2027) are the only days with no collection. Under the council’s rule, each Friday round moves to the Saturday, and every other day that week is unchanged.
• The substitute Boxing Day bank holiday, Monday 28 December, is a normal collection day. The council collects on all bank holidays apart from the two named above.
• Real Christmas trees were collected free on the usual garden waste day between 5 and 16 January last year, and all paid garden waste collections were paused for those two weeks.

The council’s rule

The council’s collection days page, updated on 20 August 2026, says:

Your waste and recycling will be collected as normal on all bank holidays except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. When these fall on a week day, collections will be one day later than usual for the rest of that week.

That rule has held for years and it is why Richmond’s festive changes are smaller than most boroughs’. It applies to the weekly rubbish, food waste and recycling rounds. Your own collection day comes from the council’s My Richmond lookup, which works from an address rather than a postcode. The everyday rules on containers, what goes where and how to report a missed collection are on our bin collection days page.

What the rule means for Christmas 2026

The council has not published a 2026 table yet. Applying its own rule to this year’s calendar gives the following, which we will confirm against the council’s announcement when it lands.

If you are a Friday household, that means putting boxes and caddies out on the Friday night, or by 6am on the Saturday, on both weekends.

What happened last Christmas (2025/26)

Christmas Day and Boxing Day fell on a Thursday and Friday in 2025, so two rounds moved. This is the council’s own table from its festive collections announcement of 18 December 2025, which ran from Thursday 25 December 2025 to Saturday 3 January 2026.

The pattern is the point: the council slid each affected round by a day and used the weekend to catch up, rather than cancelling anything.

Christmas tree recycling

Real trees are collected free with the garden waste rounds in January. In 2026 the council’s window was Monday 5 to Friday 16 January, on each household’s usual garden waste day, and it did not need a subscription. The council would not take a tree that was artificial, still decorated, in a pot or stand, in soil, or over six feet tall without being cut down.

There were also seven drop-off points, open from Boxing Day until 31 January:

• Squire’s Garden Centre car park, Sixth Cross Road, TW2 5PA
• Old Deer car park, TW9 2RA
• Ham Street car park, TW10 7RS
• Nelson Road car park, TW2 7BB
• Hampton Library car park, TW12 2AB
• North Lane car park, TW11 0HJ
• Barn Elms sports centre, SW13 0DG, opposite the rugby centre

Trees can also go to Townmead Road with a booked slot.

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices ran a donation-based collection on 12 and 13 January 2026 covering TW1, TW2, TW9, TW10, TW11 and TW12, with registration closing on 7 January. Expect the same offer this winter; the charity has not announced 2027 dates yet.

The garden waste pause

While the tree rounds run, every paid garden waste collection stops. Last winter the council suspended garden sack and bin collections for two weeks, from Monday 5 to Friday 16 January 2026, and the tree collections took their place. If you subscribe to the garden bin, expect the same fortnight’s gap in January 2027.

The tip, the offices and parking

Townmead Road Reuse and Recycling Centre in Kew is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and is otherwise open 9am to 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays. Booking is compulsory for residents. Full details are on our Townmead Road page.

Last year the council’s offices closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 January, and the contact centre shut at 2pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, per its services over Christmas notice. Emergencies outside hours go to 020 8891 7999.

On bank holidays, marked bays in most controlled parking zones are free, but a list of zones keeps charging and yellow lines are always enforced. The exceptions are on the council’s bank holiday parking page and in our Christmas travel page.

Still to be confirmed

• The council’s 2026 table. Last year it was published on 18 December. We will add it, and any change to the Friday rule, as soon as it appears.
• Tree collection and drop-off dates for January 2027, which come out with the same announcement.
• The Shooting Star collection dates, usually announced in early December.

Related: bin collection days · Townmead Road tip · Christmas and New Year travel · roadworks and travel