Rhondda Cynon Taf Christmas Recycle and refuse collections all you need to know

With a fortnight to go until Christmas Day, the Council has announced its recycling arrangements for the County Borough this festive season. After all ‘Tis the Season to Recycle in Rhondda Cynon Taf!

‘Tis the Season to Recycle!

In order to recycle as much as possible over the next few weeks, there is important information and a number of handy tips which you need to be aware of. From Christmas tree recycling to collection service changes and a list of popular items which can be recycled – here’s all you need to know.

Which items can be recycled?

Christmas is the ideal time to recycle because so many recyclable items are used at this time of year. From dinner leftovers to wrapping paper, cards and batteries for toys, a number of popular items can be recycled this time of year.

They include… plastic and glass bottles, cans, batteries, pots, tubs, cardboard boxes, trees, food waste, trays, jars, wrapping paper and much more. Simply fill up your clear recycling bag or food waste bags, for the Council to collect.

Please note, the Council is requesting that residents place all wrapping paper in a separate recycling bag – including glitter and foil wrapping paper.

Also, remember to wash food and drink containers before you put them into a recycling bag. This ensures items in the bag can be recycled as you intended, and that your waste isn’t wasted!

Christmas Tree Collection Service

You’ll be able to book your real Christmas tree in for collection by the Council from December 12, with collections running from January 2 to January 12. After this period, trees will be picked up by the normal green waste service.

Bookings can be completed on the Council’s website, or by phone. Available slots for this service will be monitored daily by the Council. Collections will be on the same day as your normal dry recycling. Please note, trees must be left at your revised recycling collection point.

Please note, artificial trees will not be collected in the Christmas Tree collection service. They must be taken to one of the Council’s Community Recycling Centres, or included in bulky waste bookings.

Collection day changes this Christmas

Your weekly collections (dry recycling, food and nappies) will change during Christmas and New Year weeks. For the week commencing December 25, your waste will be collected two days after your normal scheduled day. For the week commencing January 1, it will be collected one day after your normal date. Please see below a table summarising collection changes:

There will be no collection changes in the week starting December 18, and collection days will return to normal after the festive period from January 8.

Remember to put your refuse and recycling out before 7am on your collection day – and not before, as this can block the pavement for pedestrians. If your refuse/recycling has not been collected as planned, please leave it at the kerbside as we may be working additional hours to meet extra demand. Our crews can work well into the evening during busy periods.

Bulky waste and green waste (with the exception of the Christmas tree recycling service) collections will be suspended in the weeks commencing December 25 and January 1 – so the Council can focus on high demand for food and dry recycling at this time of year. They will resume on January 8.

When parking vehicles, residents are reminded to be considerate of large waste collection vehicles required for collections. Please ensure there is enough space for our vehicles to pass, especially in narrow streets.

Community Recycling Centre (CRC) opening times

Our seven CRCs are open as normal (8am to 5.30pm, seven days a week) for the majority of the festive period. However, this varies on the following dates:

• Christmas Eve – open from 8am usual, but closes at 3.30pm.
• Christmas Day – closed all day.
• Boxing Day – closed all day.
• New Year’s Eve – open from 8am as usual, but closes at 3.30pm.
• New Year’s Day – closed all day.

Don’t forget the CRCs do not accept bags of mixed recycling, so you will need to sort your recycling into paper, cardboard, glass, metal etc. before you visit.

 “Christmas is the ideal time of year to recycle because so many items that are routinely used can, in fact, be recycled – from wrapping paper to Christmas cards, Christmas trees and even leftovers from your turkey dinner. And it’s so easy to do – just put them into the relevant recycling bag, instead of a black bag.

“The Council’s Christmas collections are continuing right the way through the festive period, with staff working hard to ensure a swift and efficient service is maintained despite vastly increased demand this time of year. Collection days will be two days on in Christmas week, and one day on in New Year week.

“Recycling is not only important at Christmas, but throughout the whole year the Council has asked residents to recycle as much as possible. We’ve made excellent progress during the last 18 months, with figures earlier this year revealing we had recycled 64% of overall waste in the 2016 calendar year.

“That was a County Borough record, which was above the Welsh average (63%) and the Welsh Government’s current target (58%). This Christmas, we have an excellent chance to make even more progress – as we work together to hit the Welsh Government’s rising target for 2024/25, of 70%. Let’s make this the season to recycle, giving us great momentum going into 2018!”

For more information about all things recycling this Christmas in Rhondda Cynon Taf, please visit www.rctcbc.gov.uk/christmasrecycling.