Oxford Christmas Bins 2026: Only Friday Collections Move

If your Oxford bin day is a Friday, your Christmas collection moves to Monday 28 December 2026 and your New Year collection to Saturday 2 January 2027. If it is a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, nothing changes: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both fall on a Thursday this year and both are collected as normal.

That comes from Oxford City Council’s printed Recycling and Waste Collection Guide for April 2026 to March 2027 (PDF), which we checked on 25 September 2026. The council’s own Christmas web page still shows last winter’s dates, so do not rely on it until it is updated.

The quick answer

• Friday 25 December moves to Monday 28 December.
• Friday 1 January moves to Saturday 2 January.
• Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday rounds run on their normal day all through Christmas and New Year.

Christmas and New Year collection dates 2026/27

The same two changes apply in both of Oxford’s collection zones, blue and red. Everything from Tuesday 5 January 2027 runs on the normal day. To find your day and zone, use the council’s bin collection day checker, and see our Oxford bin days page for which bin goes out in which week.

Oxford collects Tuesday to Friday, which is why only the Friday round is affected: Boxing Day falls on a Saturday this year, so no weekday collection lands on it.

Last year was different

Christmas 2025 fell on a Thursday, so two rounds moved. The council’s Christmas collection changes page for 2025/26 moved Thursday 25 December to Saturday 27 December, Friday 26 December to Monday 29 December, Thursday 1 January to Friday 2 January and Friday 2 January to Saturday 3 January. If you remember a Thursday change from last year, it does not repeat in 2026.

Garden waste over Christmas

Last winter the council suspended brown bin collections, bulky waste collections and bin deliveries from Tuesday 23 December 2025 to Friday 2 January 2026, restarting on 6 January. It has not yet announced the 2026 suspension dates. The printed 2026/27 calendar shows no brown bin in the week of 22 December for the red zone or the week of 29 December for the blue zone, so each zone loses one garden waste collection across the holiday. We will add the confirmed dates when the council publishes them.

Christmas tree collection

Real Christmas trees are collected from the kerb on your green bin day, free, and you do not need a garden waste subscription. The 2026/27 calendar marks two tree weeks for each zone:

The tree has to be bare: no decorations, lights or tinsel. Trees are shredded and turned into compost for local farmland, according to the council’s Christmas tree recycling page.

Tree drop-off points

If you live in a flat or want the tree gone sooner, last winter the council ran 12 drop-off points from Boxing Day to 13 February:

• Alexandra Tennis Courts, Middle Way, Summertown
• Bury Knowle Park, North Place car park
• Cutteslowe Park, Harbord Road car park
• Florence Park, Cowley
• Long Lane, Littlemore
• Margaret Road Recreation Ground
• Meadow Lane Recreation Ground, Jackdaw Lane
• Oatlands Recreation Ground car park, Ferry Hinksey Road
• South Park, Morrell Avenue
• Sunnymead Recreation Ground, by the play area
• Hinksey Park, off Abingdon Road
• Leys Pool and Leisure Centre, Pegasus Road, Blackbird Leys

The 2026/27 list has not been published. The same page will carry it. Artificial trees go to a recycling centre, not the kerb.

Extra waste after Christmas

The council’s Recycling at Christmas page sets the rules:

• Extra recycling is collected. Put it next to your blue bin or clear sack in a clear bag. Flatten boxes and keep cardboard dry.
• Extra rubbish is not. Anything that does not fit in your green bin or lilac sacks stays on the pavement.
• Wrapping paper goes in the blue bin once ribbons and bows are off. Paper with glitter, foil or plastic cannot be recycled.
• Food waste, including turkey bones and vegetable peelings, goes in the caddy. Cooking oil can go in too, in a plastic bottle.
• Dead fairy lights and batteries go on top of your green or blue bin lid on collection day, in separate clear bags.

Redbridge recycling centre at Christmas

Oxford’s tip, Redbridge Household Waste Recycling Centre on Old Abingdon Road (OX1 4XG), is run by Oxfordshire County Council. Its Redbridge page gives its Christmas hours:

Every visit has to be booked in advance, and the last car goes in at 4.55pm on normal days. Fridge and freezer slots are restricted this winter: bookable only a week ahead, one visit per household every three months, two units at most. Our fridge and freezer disposal page has the other options.

What is still to be confirmed

• The garden waste, bulky waste and bin delivery suspension dates for 2026. Last year’s appeared on the council’s Christmas page; we will check again in November.
• The 2026/27 tree drop-off list and dates.
• Any change to the printed calendar. The guide says its details may change, so check the council’s page or its social media in the week before Christmas.

Planning to drive to Redbridge or into town over the holiday? Our roadworks and travel page and parking in Oxford page cover what is dug up and where to park, and Christmas trains and travel covers the rail closures.

Sources: Oxford City Council collection guide 2026/27 (PDF); Christmas collection day changes 2025/26; Christmas tree recycling; Recycling at Christmas; Oxfordshire County Council, Redbridge recycling centre. All checked 25 September 2026.