To help residents with their extra recycling during the festive season, Milton Keynes City Council will be collecting blue AND red bins the week after Christmas.
Recycling rates usually rise after Christmas when people have additional packaging, wrapping and bottles to dispose of. The amount of rubbish and recycling collected during the festive period typically goes up by 30% compared to the waste created during the rest of the year.
In contrast, green bin waste levels usually dip over winter as fewer residents are getting rid of garden waste. With this in mind, during week commencing 30 December, food and garden waste collections will pause to give crews enough time to pick up the additional recycling.
Since the city council introduced separate bins for paper and card and plastic, metal, and glass just over a year ago, MK’s recycling rates have increased by a third and city council sends almost nothing that MK throws away to landfill.
“During the festive season, our crews are busier than ever with the increased rubbish and recycling. To help our residents, we will collect blue and red bins, which tend to be fuller, and pause food and garden waste collection as they are generally lighter in winter. Thank you, MK, for helping us to boost our recycling rates and we hope this common sense change for the post-Christmas week is useful for everyone."
Normal collections will resume from Monday 13 January 2025.
| Original collection date | Revised collection date | Bin/sack collection |
| Wednesday 25 December | Friday 27 December | Black, blue and green. |
| Thursday 26 December | Saturday 28 December | Black, blue and green. |
| Friday 27 December | Monday 30 December | Black, blue and green. |
| Monday 30 December | Tuesday 31 December | Black, red and blue. |
| Tuesday 31 December | Thursday 2 January | Black, red and blue. |
| Wednesday 1 January | Friday 3 January | Black, red and blue. |
| Thursday 2 January | Saturday 4 January | Black, red and blue. |
| Friday 3 January | Monday 6 January | Black, red and blue. |
| Monday 6 January | Tuesday 7 January | Black, blue and green. |
| Tuesday 7 January | Wednesday 8 January | Black, blue and green. |
| Wednesday 8 January | Thursday 9 January | Black, blue and green. |
| Thursday 9 January | Friday 10 January | Black, blue and green. |
| Friday 10 January | Saturday 11 January | Black, blue and green. |
Real Christmas trees will be collected if the trunk is no more than 15cm / 6in in diameter, fit neatly inside your green bin with decorations removed. Alternatively, trees can be taken to one of the city council’s recycling centres. You can book a slot and check the opening hours at: www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/hwrc