Your waste and recycling collection days will be different over the Christmas and New Year period.
Click here to find out when your waste and recycling collections will take place over Christmas and New Year.
Thank you to everyone in the South Hams for supporting your collection crews this year and for recycling so much - due to your efforts, the recycling rate across the district increased by 2.7% this year, to 49.3% overall.
Christmas is a time that sees most of us end up with lots of wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, drinks bottles, festive leftovers - and generally a lot of extra waste!
We’re asking everyone in the district to recycle as much as they can this Christmas – we’ve got some handy information on what you can and can’t recycle this Christmas.
We collect more waste and recycling after Christmas than at any other time of year, so there's a lot of pressure on our collection crews.
You can keep collections running smoothly by avoiding parking on corners or tight spots, as blocked streets cause delays.
Got extra waste after the celebrations? If you can, spread it over a few collections or take it to a recycling bank or centre when open.
And for faster recycling collections, make sure you recycle everything into the correct containers - click here to read our guide on how to recycle this Christmas.
Thanks for keeping things moving this Christmas!
Over the festive period, we suspend garden waste collections so our garden waste crews can help with the general collections during our busiest time of the year.
The service will end on Friday 19 December and resume again on Monday 19 January 2026.
Wrapping paper
Traditional Christmas wrapping paper and sticky tape should be put in your rubbish bin. Our recycling team can't take traditional wrapping paper, so if you put it into in with your recycling, we can’t take it and will leave it in your container.
If you want to be more sustainable this Christmas, use brown or plain paper instead of standard Christmas wrapping paper.
Cardboard from online deliveries
You'll undoubtedly have a lot of packaging around the house if you're doing some of your Christmas shopping online.
If you have cardboard, cut it up, flatten it and put it in recycling box 2.
Any polystyrene or bubble wrap from your parcels should go in your black bin bag.
Christmas cards
Any Christmas cards without glitter, stuck on decoration or shiny bits can be recycled - put it into recycling box 2.
Glittery cards, cards with shiny bits or stuck on decorations should go in your black bin bag.
Food leftovers
We all tend to overdo it at Christmas and cook more than we can eat - you can put leftovers in your food caddy, including:
✔ Turkey, chicken or meat carcasses
✔ Uncooked or cooked food waste
✔ Fruit and veg peelings, nutshells and fruit stones
✔ Mince pies
Sweet tubs
Plastic sweet tubs can be recycled in your white sack, as can foil cases - rinse them and scrunch them together in a ball.
Plastic sweet wrappers should go in your black bag.
Advent calendars
Most advent calendars are recyclable - you can separate the main parts and pop them in your recycling:
✔ Cardboard - in recycling box 2
✔ Foil (scrunch it into a ball first) - in your white sack
✔ Plastic trays - also in your white sack
Drink bottles and cans
Will you be enjoying a tipple or two this Christmas?
Most drinks containers are recyclable:
✔ Plastic bottles, their lids and metal lids from glass jars and bottles – washed out and put in your white sack
✔ Drinks cans – washed out and put in your white sack
✔ Juice cartons - recycling box 2
✔ Glass bottles and jars - in recycling box 1
✘ Corks (natural and plastic) - not recyclable, should go in your black bag
Aluminium trays & packaging
Lots of Christmas food will come in tins, or with aluminium trays for cooking. Wash these out and place them in your white sack for recycling.
Click here for more information on how to get the most of your recycling containers this Christmas.
We cannot take Christmas trees as part of your garden waste collections. If you have a real Christmas tree this year, please take these to your local recycling centre.
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