Dartford's Christmas bin dates are out: Christmas week holds until Thursday, then rounds slip up to four days into mid-January. Every revised day, in one table.
Dartford Borough Council has already published its Christmas and New Year collection dates for 2026/27, which most councils leave until December. Bins emptied Monday to Thursday in Christmas week go out on their normal day. Everything from Christmas Day onwards moves, by up to four days, and the knock-on runs until the middle of January.
The quick answer
- Monday 21 to Thursday 24 December: no change. Put your bins out on your usual day.
- Friday 25 December collections move to Tuesday 29 December, and every round after that slips too, by two days in the week between Christmas and New Year.
- Rounds stay late until the week of 11 January, when the last Friday round is collected on Saturday 16 January 2027.
The dates come from the council’s bank holiday refuse, recycling and garden collection changes page, read on 25 September 2026. The council calls them “anticipated” days: the plan it expects its contractor, FCC Environment, to run.
Every revised collection day, Christmas 2026 to January 2027
The table covers refuse, recycling and garden waste. Find your usual day in the left column and read across.
| Usual collection day | Anticipated collection day | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 21 December | Monday 21 December | None |
| Tuesday 22 December | Tuesday 22 December | None |
| Wednesday 23 December | Wednesday 23 December | None |
| Thursday 24 December | Thursday 24 December | None |
| Friday 25 December | Tuesday 29 December | 4 days later |
| Monday 28 December | Wednesday 30 December | 2 days later |
| Tuesday 29 December | Thursday 31 December | 2 days later |
| Wednesday 30 December | Saturday 2 January | 3 days later |
| Thursday 31 December | Monday 4 January | 4 days later |
| Friday 1 January | Tuesday 5 January | 4 days later |
| Monday 4 January | Wednesday 6 January | 2 days later |
| Tuesday 5 January | Thursday 7 January | 2 days later |
| Wednesday 6 January | Friday 8 January | 2 days later |
| Thursday 7 January | Saturday 9 January | 2 days later |
| Friday 8 January | Monday 11 January | 3 days later |
| Monday 11 January | Tuesday 12 January | 1 day later |
| Tuesday 12 January | Wednesday 13 January | 1 day later |
| Wednesday 13 January | Thursday 14 January | 1 day later |
| Thursday 14 January | Friday 15 January | 1 day later |
| Friday 15 January | Saturday 16 January | 1 day later |
The council’s table ends with the week of 11 January, so collections should be back on their usual days from Monday 18 January.
Why the slip lasts three weeks
Christmas 2026 falls badly for bin rounds. Christmas Day is a Friday, Boxing Day falls on a Saturday so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is also a Friday (GOV.UK bank holidays). That is three weekday bank holidays in eight days, each one taking a day out of the rounds.
The council handles it by pushing every round back and using Saturdays to catch up: Saturday 2 January, Saturday 9 January and Saturday 16 January all carry a full day of collections. Each Saturday claws back a day, which is why the delay shrinks from four days, to two, to one, before it disappears.
Three things follow for households:
- If your day is Friday, you wait longest. Friday households go four days late on Christmas Day, four days late on New Year’s Day, then three days late the week after.
- Some rounds land on a bank holiday or a Saturday. Wednesday 30 December’s round is collected on Saturday 2 January. Thursday 31 December’s round is collected on Monday 4 January.
- Recycling weeks do not change. The grey bin stays on its fortnightly pattern; only the day it is emptied moves. Check which week you are on before you put it out.
Before you put the bins out
Bins go at the front boundary of your property by 6am on the revised day, the same rule as a normal week (Dartford Borough Council, refuse collection). The council warns that snow, ice and extreme weather can delay rounds further. If your bin is not emptied on the anticipated day, it asks you to leave it out, because FCC Environment will come back as soon as it can.
For your own address, the council’s collection day checker builds in the bank holiday changes. It is the one source that shows your own next dates rather than the general pattern. Your usual days, and what goes in each bin, are on our Dartford bin collection days page.
Christmas trees and extra rubbish
Christmas trees are not collected as part of the brown bin garden waste subscription. Condition 7 of the council’s garden waste terms and conditions says so in as many words.
For the tree, the wrapping that will not fit in the grey bin, or the old telly the new one replaced, the household waste recycling centre on Dartford Heath is the other option. You must book a slot before you go: hours, booking and the Christmas opening question are on our Dartford tip opening times page.
What is still to be confirmed
- Food waste caddies. Weekly food waste collections for houses start in November 2026 (Dartford Borough Council). The Christmas table does not mention food caddies yet, and this will be the first Christmas the service runs. More on the new service: Dartford food waste collections start November 2026.
- Any change to the table. The council published these dates early and can revise them. We will check the page again in late November and update this one if a single day moves.
Getting about over the holiday is on our Dartford Christmas trains and travel page, and road closures on Dartford roadworks and travel.
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