Manchester City Council is reminding residents that due to the bank holidays over Christmas and New Year that everyone's bins collections days will change during the two-week festive period.
This year Christmas week will see residents’ bins emptied two days later than the usual collection date so Monday 25 December collections will happen on Wednesday 27 December and so on meaning that bin collections will happen on both Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 December 2023.
New Year's week collection days will move forward by one day so bins that would have been collected on New Year's Day will be picked up on Tuesday 2 January and so on until Saturday 6 January. Bin collections will return to normal from 8 January 2024.
Cardboard should be flattened, and paper should be put in your blue recycling bin, but any plastic packaging, bubble wrap and polystyrene should be put into the grey general waste bin.
Although most greetings cards and wrapping paper can be recycled in the blue recycling bin, they must be made from paper entirely, otherwise any wrapping made from foil or with plastic coatings or glitter for example must go into the grey general waste bin.
Real Christmas trees can be recycled in January if all the decorations, wooden bases or stands and lights are removed. If possible, residents should chop up their real tree and put the pieces in their green bin for collection on any green bin day in January. If you do not have a large green bin, you can leave your Christmas tree in front of your property on any green bin day in January or take it to the local tip or Household Waste Recycling Centre. Other arrangements are possible for people living in flats or apartments - see website for full details.
Real trees can also be dropped off throughout January at:
Wythenshawe Park and Gardens Athletics Track, Wythenshawe, M23 0PH
Boggart Hole Clough Visitor Centre, Charlestown Road car park, M9 7AD
Patchett Street (off Hyde Road), Ardwick, M12 4RY.
Charity Just Helping will come and collect your real tree from your home, if you give a small donation to charity. The money will go to We Love Manchester which distributes funding to good causes in the city, Francis House and St Ann's Hospice. Book now.
And don’t forget the Christmas food leftovers, including meat bones, which can be put in your green bin, container or box. Please make sure all packaging is removed. Don't forget that the foil trays from pies can be recycled with any other foil in your brown recycling bin.
Tips in Manchester are free for all residents to use and are open from 8am to 6pm, every day except Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Longley Lane, Sharston, M22 4RQ; Reliance Street, Manchester, M40 3EZ; Sandfold Lane, Manchester, M19 3BJ
And remember that electrical items can't be recycled, Christmas tree lights, cables and other electrical items should be taken to your local tip / recycling centres should batteries. They should not be placed in any of your bins and can be recycled in most supermarkets and recycling shops.
Councillor Lee- Ann Igbon, Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods said:
"We know that many of our residents are making a fantastic effort to recycle their waste and how important recycling is to help the environment. During the festive season there is so much additional waste created, cards, wrapping paper, boxes, food scraps are all things we have in excess at Christmas so please use your recycling bins or use the free tips to play your part in helping us to become a zero-carbon city by 2038. And if you have a real Christmas tree it's now so simple to dispose of it in an environmentally responsible way. And one more thing I’d like to urge residents to make recycling more one of their New Year’s resolutions for 2024. ”