Waverley's 2026 Christmas bin dates are due in early December. Last year collections ran up to two days late, with Saturday catch-ups and no garden waste.

Waverley Borough Council has not yet published its Christmas and New Year bin dates for 2026/27. Last year it posted them in early December, and the pattern was clear: nothing moved before Christmas Eve, then collections slipped by one or two days, with Saturday rounds to catch up, until normal days came back in the second week of January.

This page covers Farnham and the rest of Waverley (Godalming, Haslemere, Cranleigh and the villages), because Biffa runs one borough-wide round for the council.

The quick answer

  • 2026 dates: not published yet. Last year Waverley put them online in early December.
  • Last year, collections ran up to two days late from Christmas Day, with Saturday catch-up rounds on 27 December and 3 January and a final one on 10 January.
  • Garden waste stopped for two weeks last year, from 22 December to 5 January.

What is already known for Christmas 2026

  • The bank holidays fall on two Fridays and a Monday. Christmas Day is Friday 25 December, the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January 2027 (GOV.UK bank holidays).
  • Waverley’s 2026 collection calendars black out 21 December to 1 January and the first working week of January, both marked as subject to change (Waverley: check your bin collection day).
  • Garden waste pauses for about a fortnight. The same calendars say there are no garden waste collections between 21 December and 1 January.

Christmas Day fell on a Thursday last year, so the 2025 table below will not repeat day for day. A Friday Christmas and a Monday bank holiday are likely to push the Friday and Monday rounds furthest. That is our reading of the calendar, not a council announcement.

Last year’s changes, and they are only a guide

For 2025/26 Waverley said its contractor Biffa would collect through the holiday but that bin days would change, and asked residents to put bins out by 6am on the revised day (Waverley: check bin collection day, archived 11 December 2025).

These are not this year’s dates.

Usual collection day Revised day, 2025/26
Monday 22 December No change
Tuesday 23 December No change
Wednesday 24 December No change
Thursday 25 December (Christmas Day) Saturday 27 December
Friday 26 December (Boxing Day) Monday 29 December
Monday 29 December Tuesday 30 December
Tuesday 30 December Wednesday 31 December
Wednesday 31 December Friday 2 January
Thursday 1 January (New Year’s Day) Saturday 3 January
Friday 2 January Monday 5 January
Monday 5 January Tuesday 6 January
Tuesday 6 January Wednesday 7 January
Wednesday 7 January Thursday 8 January
Thursday 8 January Friday 9 January
Friday 9 January Saturday 10 January

Normal collections resumed on Monday 12 January 2026. There were no garden waste collections from 22 December 2025 to 5 January 2026.

The year before, Waverley ran a different shape: two days behind from Christmas Day, normal on 30 and 31 December, one day behind from New Year’s Day and normal again from Monday 6 January 2025 (Waverley council news, 17 December 2024). So the pattern changes year to year, which is the reason not to rely on last year’s table.

Clinical waste goes earlier, not later

Clinical and sharps collections move the other way over Christmas. In 2025/26 Waverley brought most of them forward and dropped some rounds altogether:

Usual day Revised day, 2025/26 Last day to request
Tuesday 23 December Monday 22 December Thursday 18 December
Wednesday 24 December Tuesday 23 December Sunday 21 December
Thursday 25 December Wednesday 24 December Monday 22 December
Friday 26 December No collection
Monday 29 December No collection
Tuesday 30 December Monday 29 December Tuesday 23 December
Wednesday 31 December Tuesday 30 December Tuesday 23 December
Thursday 1 January Wednesday 31 December Tuesday 23 December
Friday 2 January No collection

Normal clinical collections came back on Tuesday 6 January 2026. If you rely on sharps collections, order early in December.

The council itself is shut

Waverley’s offices and phone lines closed at 3.30pm on Christmas Eve 2025 and reopened at 8.45am on Friday 2 January 2026. The council asked people to report missed bins online over the break and to phone only in an emergency, on the out of hours number 01483 523200 (Waverley council news, 1 December 2025).

Extra rubbish and the tip

Wrapping paper and cards go in the blue recycling bin, but not foil or glitter paper, and not cards with batteries. Fairy lights and other small electricals must not go in any household bin (Waverley: recycling at Christmas).

If the black bin overflows, the Farnham tip at Bourne Mill closes early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and is shut on the bank holidays. Its hours, the van ban and the gas canister rule are on our Farnham bin collection days page.

Still to be confirmed

  • The 2026/27 revised dates. Waverley posted last year’s on 1 December. We will add this year’s table the day it appears.
  • Christmas tree recycling. Waverley’s 2025 Christmas page carried no tree drop-off list; we will add any 2026 scheme when it is announced.

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