Bishop's Stortford tip: shut Tue and Wed, ePass needed

Bishop’s Stortford tip, the county’s recycling centre, is open 8.30am to 4pm on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and closed every Tuesday and Wednesday. We rechecked those hours on the council’s page on 24 October 2026. Stortford tip, the dump, the recycling centre: whatever you call it, there is only one, on the Woodside Industrial Estate off Dunmow Road, CM23 5RG. Since this spring every car also needs a free ePass, including cars from Hertfordshire.

If you turn up on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the nearest centres open that day are Ware, which opens every day, and Turnford.

The quick answer

• Hours: 8.30am to 4pm, Monday and Thursday to Sunday. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
• ePass: every visitor now needs one. It is free, it is linked to your number plate, and there is no booking.
• Quietest time: the first hour after opening. The county’s own figures put the busiest spell at 3pm on a Saturday.
• Van or car-and-trailer? That needs a van and trailer ePass, good for 12 visits a year.
• Christmas: closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, as every Hertfordshire centre is. This year that is Friday 25 December, Saturday 26 December and Friday 1 January.

Opening times for the four nearest centres

All four are run by Hertfordshire County Council. The hours below are from each centre’s own page on the county’s site, last checked on 7 October 2026 (Bishop’s Stortford, Ware, Hoddesdon, Turnford).

Bishop’s Stortford is the early one. It opens an hour and a half before the others and closes an hour and a half sooner, so an after-work run on a weekday does not work here. Ware does.

The Bishop’s Stortford times have moved slightly this year. Archived copies of the council’s page from May and December 2025 show 8am to 4pm; by April 2026 it read 8.30am. If you remember an 8am opening, that is why the gate is still shut.

There are no separate winter hours this year. Hertfordshire used to switch its centres to shorter winter opening, but since January 2026 each page has shown one pattern for the whole year. We read all four pages again on 7 October, after the start of the month when a winter change would once have landed, and nothing had moved. The Bishop’s Stortford page still showed the same 8.30am to 4pm hours on 16 October. We will look again after the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October.

Best time to go to Bishop’s Stortford tip

The county’s page for the Bishop’s Stortford centre carries a “popular times” chart for the day you look at it, built from its own visitor counts. The page shows one day at a time, so we put together the three days we could read: Friday from the live page on 16 October 2026, and Monday and Saturday from archived copies of the same page. The figures have not changed between copies, so they are the county’s standing profile rather than a live count. It does not say what the unit is, so read them as relative: higher means busier.

What that tells you:

• Go early. On all three days the first half-hour after the 8.30am opening is the quietest spell, and 9am to 10am is still below the day’s average.
• Saturday afternoon is the worst time. The 3pm hour on a Saturday is the busiest slot in the whole set, and Saturday is the busiest day overall.
• Friday is the quietest of the three days, and on a Friday the queue drops away again in the last hour, from 3pm.
• Monday’s rush starts at 11am, after the weekend clear-outs.

The figures predate the 8.30am opening, which is why the first bar is labelled 8am. The county’s own advice for dodging queues is to avoid school and bank holidays and to sort your waste before you arrive. The live queue camera on the same page refreshes every 10 seconds.

What you can take to Bishop’s Stortford tip

The centre’s page lists 18 separate bins and containers:

• Garden and bulky: garden waste, soil, hardcore and rubble, wood, plasterboard
• Recycling: mixed recycling, cardboard, paper, glass bottles and jars, rigid plastics, scrap metal, textiles, household batteries
• Electricals: fridges and freezers, large domestic appliances and metal, small appliances
• Everything else: soft furnishings, non-recyclable rubbish, and large non-recyclable items

The same page runs a live bin-availability panel, so if you are bringing a car full of soil or rubble, check that bin is not marked full before you set off. Staff will tell you at the gate if a full container is due to be emptied.

Three things are turned away: business waste of any kind, DIY waste over the free allowance unless you pay the charge below, and anything you cannot prove came from a Hertfordshire or Essex household. Items that are too good to throw away can be left with staff for reuse.

The ePass: what changed

The council’s ePass page is blunt: “You must have an ePass to visit any Hertfordshire recycling centre” (Hertfordshire County Council). Before this year, only vans, trailers and visitors from outside the county needed a permit. Now every car does.

What the council says about it:

• It is free and available instantly after you apply online.
• It is tied to your vehicle registration and address. Anyone in your household can use it in that car.
• No booking. Turn up any time during opening hours. Number-plate cameras read it, so you do not need to print or show anything.
• A household can hold up to three: three car passes, or two car passes and one van or trailer pass.
• No ePass on the day? Staff will register you at the gate if you have proof of address with you. Without proof of address you will be sent away.
• Hire vans and courtesy cars can be registered too, for seven days, with the hire agreement.

Bring proof of address anyway. The Bishop’s Stortford page still asks for it: a driving licence, council tax bill, Hertfordshire bus pass or utility bill.

Taking a van or trailer to Bishop’s Stortford tip

A car, a 4x4 or a people carrier with its seats in can use the tip on an ordinary car ePass. A van, a pick-up, a camper van, a car towing a trailer, or any vehicle with eight or more seats or its rear seats taken out needs a van and trailer ePass instead (Hertfordshire County Council). Blue Badge holders whose everyday vehicle is wheelchair accessible are exempt.

• 12 visits in 12 months, from the date it is issued. “There are no exceptions to this rule”, and two trips on the same day count as two visits.
• One per household, free and issued instantly online. It counts as one of the household’s three ePasses.
• Hertfordshire residents only. An Essex household cannot get one, so it cannot bring a van or trailer to Bishop’s Stortford.
• Hire vans and trailers: you need a hire ePass for each hire, valid for three visits, and no more than four a year. Bring the hire agreement and proof of address every time, or you will not be allowed to tip.
• Borrowed van: use the owner’s ePass, and the visits come off their 12. Several employees sharing a work van share its 12 visits.
• Household waste only. Waste from a business, charity or other organisation is refused, and the DIY limits still apply.

There are no height barriers at any Hertfordshire centre, so a high-top van gets in.

Essex residents

Bishop’s Stortford is on the county boundary, and plenty of people who shop in the town pay council tax in Uttlesford or Harlow. The county’s page says you can use this centre “if you pay your Council Tax to Hertfordshire or Essex councils”, but Essex residents need an ePass, and Essex and Cambridgeshire households are limited to one car ePass each (Hertfordshire County Council).

Christmas and New Year

Every Hertfordshire centre states the same rule: “We’re open on all bank holidays except Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.” Laid over this year’s calendar, that gives Bishop’s Stortford this pattern:

Two things to watch. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. The council’s wording says the centres open on bank holidays except Boxing Day, and does not say which of the two days it means for Boxing Day this year. We will confirm it when the council publishes its festive hours. And Turnford is shut on Christmas Eve, because Christmas Eve is a Thursday, one of its normal closing days.

If you are clearing up after Christmas, Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 December are closed days at both Bishop’s Stortford and Hoddesdon. Ware is the only one of the four open every day that week except the bank holidays.

Christmas trees and wrapping

East Herts collects real Christmas trees only for garden waste subscribers, once collections restart after Christmas. Everyone else is pointed to the recycling centre, and last winter the district council said so in as many words: “Alternatively, you can take Christmas trees to your local Recycling Centre” (East Herts Council). Broken Christmas lights and artificial trees go to the centre too. The full Christmas collection changes are on our Christmas bin collections page, and your normal days are on bin collection days.

DIY waste: the limits and the new fees

This is where most people get turned away. The council accepts household DIY waste only in small amounts (Hertfordshire County Council):

• Free allowance: two 50-litre rubble bags, or one bulky item such as a bath, per week. You can bring up to four weeks’ worth in one trip, then nothing for four weeks.
• No trade waste. If a builder did the work and left the waste, it cannot go to the tip.
• Over the allowance you can now pay by card at the centre rather than being sent home:

The ePass is what makes this stick: the council says the system “will track DIY waste visits so people can’t exceed the free allowance by visiting multiple sites”.

Getting there

The entrance is on the Woodside Industrial Estate, off the A1250 Dunmow Road. Anything dug up on the approach will be on our roadworks and travel page. The county also runs a live queue camera and a bin-availability panel on the centre’s page, updated through the day, which is worth a look before a Saturday or Sunday run.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Bishop’s Stortford tip opening times?

8.30am to 4pm on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday, and on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

What are the Bishop’s Stortford dump opening times?

The same as the tip, because they are the same place: Hertfordshire County Council’s recycling centre on the Woodside Industrial Estate, off Dunmow Road (A1250), CM23 5RG. It opens 8.30am to 4pm on Monday and Thursday to Sunday, and is shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There is no other council dump in the town; on a Tuesday or Wednesday the nearest one open is Ware.

Is Bishop’s Stortford tip open today?

It is open on any day except Tuesday and Wednesday, and on bank holidays apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. On a Tuesday or Wednesday, Ware is open 10am to 5.30pm every day.

Do I need to book Bishop’s Stortford tip?

No. There is no booking in Hertfordshire. You need a free ePass registered to your number plate, which you can get online instantly or at the gate with proof of address.

Where is Bishop’s Stortford tip?

On the Woodside Industrial Estate, off Dunmow Road (the A1250), Bishop’s Stortford CM23 5RG.

When is Bishop’s Stortford tip quietest?

In the first hour after it opens at 8.30am. The county’s popular-times figures show the 8am-to-9am hour as the quietest on Monday, Friday and Saturday, and the 3pm hour on a Saturday as the busiest of all.

Can I take a van to Bishop’s Stortford tip?

Yes, with a free van and trailer ePass, which allows 12 visits in 12 months. Only Hertfordshire residents can get one; hire vans need a separate hire ePass, valid for three visits.

Do I need an ePass for a car and trailer?

Yes. A car towing a trailer needs the van and trailer ePass, not a car ePass, and each trip counts as one of its 12 yearly visits.

Can Essex residents use Bishop’s Stortford tip?

Yes, if they pay council tax to an Essex council, but they need an ePass and are limited to one car ePass per household.

What is still to be confirmed

Hertfordshire has not yet published festive opening for 2026, including whether the centres open on Monday 28 December. This page will be updated in December when it does.