East Hampshire has not published its Christmas 2026 bin dates. Last year every collection from Christmas Day ran two working days late until 19 January.
East Hampshire District Council has not yet published its Christmas and New Year bin collection dates for 2026/27. Its website still carries the 2025/26 arrangement, and the current bin calendars run out in October 2026 with the next set due in November. This page sets out what last year’s schedule looked like, why this year’s bank holidays fall in an awkward shape, and what will not change whatever the council announces.
The quick answer
- The 2026 Christmas dates are not out yet. The council’s own Christmas collections page still describes 2025/26, and the bin calendars that carry the festive dates start in November 2026.
- Expect collections to run late, not early. Last year every collection from Christmas Day onwards moved two working days later, and normal service only returned on Monday 19 January 2026.
- Garden waste stops for a fortnight. In 2025/26 the subscription service paused from 22 December to 5 January, and real Christmas trees went out with the first garden collection of the new year.
- Food waste is new this Christmas. Weekly food waste collections start across East Hampshire in October 2026, so this is the first festive period the caddy has ever been through.
Why this year is awkward
Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday. Boxing Day is a Saturday, so its bank holiday moves to a substitute day on Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January 2027 (GOV.UK bank holidays). That puts three lost working days into two consecutive weeks, and it means the Friday rounds are hit twice.
In East Hampshire, bank holidays outside Christmas are collected on the day. The council’s calendars print every other bank holiday of the year as a normal collection day, and only the festive fortnight moves. Our bin collection days page covers the normal pattern, the three bins and the glass box, and what to do about a missed collection.
What happened last Christmas
The most recent arrangement the council has published is for 2025/26. It is not this year’s timetable, but the council has used the same shape for years: the first three days of Christmas week unchanged, then everything slides. These are the 2025/26 dates as the council published them, archived on 26 December 2025 (East Hampshire District Council, archived).
| Normal day | Collected on |
|---|---|
| Mon 22 Dec | No change |
| Tue 23 Dec | No change |
| Wed 24 Dec | No change |
| Thu 25 Dec | Mon 29 Dec |
| Fri 26 Dec | Tue 30 Dec |
| Mon 29 Dec | Wed 31 Dec |
| Tue 30 Dec | Fri 2 Jan |
| Wed 31 Dec | Sat 3 Jan |
| Thu 1 Jan | Mon 5 Jan |
| Fri 2 Jan | Tue 6 Jan |
| Mon 5 Jan | Wed 7 Jan |
| Tue 6 Jan | Thu 8 Jan |
| Wed 7 Jan | Fri 9 Jan |
| Thu 8 Jan | Sat 10 Jan |
| Fri 9 Jan | Mon 12 Jan |
| Mon 12 Jan | Tue 13 Jan |
| Tue 13 Jan | Wed 14 Jan |
| Wed 14 Jan | Thu 15 Jan |
| Thu 15 Jan | Fri 16 Jan |
| Fri 16 Jan | Sat 17 Jan |
Normal service resumed on Monday 19 January 2026. Three things stand out from that table. The delay is two working days for the first fortnight and one day for the third week. Several replacement days are Saturdays. And putting the bin out on its usual day does nothing, because nothing is ever collected early.
If the council repeats the shape for 2026/27, the first affected collection would be Friday 25 December, and the catch-up would run through the week of 18 January 2027. That is our reading of the pattern, not a council announcement, and this page will be replaced with the real dates as soon as they are published.
Extra recycling, glass and garden waste
The rules for extra material were set out on the same council page last year, and they are the parts least likely to change:
- Extra recycling is taken if it is in a dry cardboard box or a clear plastic bag beside the black bin.
- Extra glass is taken in a sturdy plastic box with handles, no bigger than 38 litres and weighing under 5.5kg.
- Garden waste was suspended from Monday 22 December 2025 and restarted on Monday 5 January 2026. Subscribers’ real Christmas trees are collected on the first garden waste round of the new year, and trees over 6ft should be cut into pieces the crew can lift.
- Clinical waste collections run on Mondays and Tuesdays and did not change.
Real trees can also go in the green waste container at the tip. The Petersfield recycling centre on Bedford Road is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day and needs a booked slot on every other day; see our tip opening times page.
The food waste caddy
Weekly food waste collections start across the district in October 2026, which we covered when the roll-out was announced. The council’s 2025/26 Christmas page said food waste would stay weekly through the festive period, but that was written before the caddies arrived at most homes. Whether the weekly round holds over Christmas 2026, or slides with everything else, is one of the details we are waiting for.
Check your own calendar
The council does not run a postcode lookup that prints a Christmas date. Enter your address on its where I live page, note your calendar number, and download the matching PDF from the find your bin calendar page. The November 2026 to November 2027 calendars are the ones that will carry the festive dates. Last year the council also hung a printed card on every bin in the second week of December.
What is still to come
The council published the 2025/26 schedule on its website in the first half of December 2025, with the calendars available earlier. We will check for the 2026/27 dates from the start of November and update this page, and our bin collection days page, the day they appear.
Related
- Petersfield bin collection days: the normal fortnightly pattern and the garden waste service
- Petersfield tip opening times: winter hours, booking and Christmas closures
- Petersfield Christmas and New Year train times: engineering works and last trains
- Parking in Petersfield
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