East Herts moved every collection from 25 December to 16 January last year, some by three days. The 2026 table is not out yet; here is last year's in full.
East Herts Council has not yet published its Christmas 2026 bin dates. Last winter it moved every collection from Thursday 25 December to Friday 16 January, most by one or two days and a few by three, with the last catch-up round on Saturday 17 January. Garden waste stopped for two weeks.
Christmas Day falls on a Friday this year rather than a Thursday, so last year’s table will not simply repeat. It is still the best guide to the shape of it: a three-week knock-on, Saturday collections, and a gap in garden waste.
The quick answer
- 2026 dates: not published yet by East Herts. This page will carry them as soon as they appear.
- Last year: every round from 25 December to 16 January ran later, some by up to three days, finishing on Saturday 17 January.
- Garden waste: none from 25 December to 9 January last year; real Christmas trees went out when it restarted, for subscribers only.
Last Christmas’s East Herts table
This is the council’s own table for 2025/26, from its Council services: winter changes page. It covers Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth, Hertford, Ware, Buntingford and the villages.
| Usual collection day | Collected instead on |
|---|---|
| Thursday 25 December | Monday 29 December |
| Friday 26 December | Tuesday 30 December |
| Monday 29 December | Wednesday 31 December |
| Tuesday 30 December | Friday 2 January |
| Wednesday 31 December | Saturday 3 January |
| Thursday 1 January | Monday 5 January |
| Friday 2 January | Tuesday 6 January |
| Monday 5 January | Wednesday 7 January |
| Tuesday 6 January | Thursday 8 January |
| Wednesday 7 January | Friday 9 January |
| Thursday 8 January | Saturday 10 January |
| Friday 9 January | Monday 12 January |
| Monday 12 January | Tuesday 13 January |
| Tuesday 13 January | Wednesday 14 January |
| Wednesday 14 January | Thursday 15 January |
| Thursday 15 January | Friday 16 January |
| Friday 16 January | Saturday 17 January |
Two things stand out. Nobody lost a collection, but the gap between two collections of the same bin stretched by up to three days. On the three-week rota that is a long wait for a full purple bin. And four of the rounds landed on a Saturday.
Bins had to be at the boundary of the property by 6.30am on the revised day. Extra recycling could go out next to the bin in a cardboard or plastic box.
Garden waste and Christmas trees
Last year the council said there would be no garden waste collections between Thursday 25 December and Friday 9 January, restarting on Saturday 10 January. Post-Christmas garden dates went live in the app and on the website from the evening of 24 December.
Real trees were collected with garden waste, but only for subscribers. The council’s rules:
- remove all decorations, lights, stands and pots
- leave the tree on the edge of the property, in or next to the brown bin, on your garden waste day
- cut down anything taller than six feet
- trunk no thicker than 10cm, branches no thicker than 3cm
If you do not subscribe, take the tree to a recycling centre. The nearest are at Bishop’s Stortford, Ware, Hoddesdon and Turnford: see the tip opening times, including Christmas closures.
What goes where at Christmas
From the same council page, the items that catch people out:
- Christmas cards with glitter, foil, ribbons or sound chips go in the purple-lidded bin. Plain cards go in the blue-lidded bin.
- Crackers: the paper hat, joke and cardboard tube go in the blue bin; the foil, snap and plastic toy go in the purple bin.
- Advent calendars: cardboard outer in the blue bin; take the foil off the plastic insert, then the insert goes in the black-lidded bin.
- Batteries go in no bin at all, because they start fires in the lorries. Take them to a recycling centre or a supermarket battery bin.
- Broken lights and baubles: lights to a recycling centre, damaged baubles in the purple bin.
Hoddesdon, Cheshunt and Waltham Cross: Broxbourne’s dates
The Broxbourne end of our patch is a different council with a different approach. Last year Broxbourne pulled the Christmas-week rounds earlier rather than later, then ran as normal between Christmas and New Year. From its Christmas 2025 collections calendar:
| Usual collection day | Collected instead on |
|---|---|
| Monday 22 December | Saturday 20 December |
| Tuesday 23 December | Monday 22 December |
| Wednesday 24 December | Tuesday 23 December |
| Thursday 25 December | Wednesday 24 December |
| Friday 26 December | Saturday 27 December |
| Monday 29 to Wednesday 31 December | Normal service |
| Thursday 1 January | Friday 2 January |
| Friday 2 January | Saturday 3 January |
Containers had to be out by 6am. There was no green waste collection from 22 December to 2 January, with normal schedules from 5 January.
Broxbourne publishes early. The PDF’s own file data shows it was created on 7 October 2025, so its 2026 calendar could appear within weeks.
Parking over Christmas
On 25 December and 1 January last year East Herts said no resident permit or visitor voucher was needed in permit zones, though double yellow lines still applied. The council’s Bishop’s Stortford car parks, including Jackson Square, Link Road and Apton Road, are free on Christmas Day according to each car park’s own page. More in parking in Bishop’s Stortford.
Still to come
- East Herts 2026/27 table: not published. We will check again in early November and add it here the day it appears.
- Broxbourne 2026/27 calendar: last year’s was ready by early October.
- Garden waste pause and tree collection dates for 2026: not yet announced.
Your normal day, the three-week rota and how to report a missed bin are on Bishop’s Stortford bin collection days. For trains and roads over the holiday, see Christmas trains and travel and roadworks and travel.
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