waste collections

Somerset Council has announced that there will be no recycling or rubbish collections taking place during the upcoming Spring Bank Holiday on Monday, 25 May.

Collection days will change across Somerset following the bank holiday.

All collections will be 1 day later than the usual schedule:

  • If a resident’s usual collection day is Monday, it will now take place on Tuesday.
  • Tuesday collections will be moved to Wednesday, Wednesday collections to Thursday, and so on.
  • For those who usually have a Friday collection, their collection will be rescheduled to Saturday 30 May.

If opening on a Monday is part of the Recycling Centre’s opening days, then it will be open as usual from 9am to 6pm on Bank Holiday Monday.

To help manage the increased volume of recycling, residents are encouraged to make extra space in their recycling boxes by crushing and flattening their recyclables.

This simple step can make a difference to help reduce the number of trips crews need to make to empty their vehicles.

For more information about what can be collected for recycling and to check a collection day visit the Council’s Bins, recycling and waste pages.

Early start during hot weather.

Waste collections in Somerset will begin from 6am next week, from Tuesday 26 May as temperatures are expected to climb.

The early starts are to help crews impacted by the hot weather and help to minimise any chance of disruption to recycling, rubbish or garden waste collections across the county.

Waste collection is hard, physical work and early starts help limit the time crews spend working in the hottest part of the day.

Somerset Council is asking residents to put their bins out the night before to make sure they are prepared for the early start.

Waste Collections over the Christmas period

There will be no collections on Wednesday 25 December, Thursday 26 December or Wednesday 1 January.

During the Christmas week collections will move forward by 2 days for those who normally have theirs on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday as follows:

  • Wednesday 25 December collections will now be on Friday 27 December
  • Thursday 26 December collections will now be on Saturday 28 December
  • Friday 27 December collections will now be on Sunday 29 December

Following the New Year, collections will move forward by 1 day for the rest of the week as follows:

  • Wednesday 1 January collections will now be on Thursday 2 January
  • Thursday 2 January collections will now be on Friday 3 January
  • Friday 3 January collections will now be on Saturday 4 January

If residents’ usual collection days are a Monday or Tuesday, there will be no changes on either week.

Recycling sites will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day. Sites will be open as per their usual schedule at all other times, visit the Council’s Recycling sites opening hours page for details.

The garden waste collection service will be suspended for 2 weeks from Wednesday 25 December, resuming on Wednesday 8 January.

Garden Waste Service subscribers can leave their decoration-free tree out with their first collection of the year, so long as it is no taller than 2 metres (6ft)

Trees will not be collected from the kerbside unless the household subscribes to the Garden Waste Service.

Many charities, community organisations and groups are running tree collection or drop-off services, raising money for good causes. Check Just Helping online for details.

Trees can also be taken to any of Somerset’s recycling sites and put in the garden waste skip.