Last Christmas, Lewisham moved bank holiday bins to the weekend after. The 2026 table is expected in early December; here is last year's and the tree drop-off.

Lewisham has not published its Christmas 2026 bin dates yet. Last Christmas it did not cancel any rounds. Only the bank holiday collections moved, each to the weekend or weekday after, and every other day stayed as normal. The council put that table online on 9 December 2025, so expect this year’s in early December. Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday and the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December, so this year’s changes will fall on different days from last year’s.

The quick answer

  • 2026 dates: not yet published. Last year’s table appeared on 9 December 2025, in the council’s Christmas opening hours notice.
  • Christmas 2025: only the bank holiday rounds moved. Thursday 25 December went to Saturday 27 December, Friday 26 December to Sunday 28 December, and New Year’s Day to Friday 2 January.
  • The change covered refuse, recycling, food and garden waste, and normal service came back in the week of 5 January 2026.

What happened at Christmas 2025

This is the table from Lewisham Council’s Christmas and New Year opening hours notice, published on 9 December 2025. It applied to refuse, recycling, food waste and garden waste alike.

Usual collection day Collected on
Monday 22 to Wednesday 24 December No change
Thursday 25 December (Christmas Day) Saturday 27 December
Friday 26 December (Boxing Day) Sunday 28 December
Monday 29 to Wednesday 31 December No change
Thursday 1 January (New Year’s Day) Friday 2 January
Friday 2 January Saturday 3 January

The council said usual service would resume in the week beginning Monday 5 January 2026, and asked residents to have bins out on the revised day.

Two things are worth noticing. First, Lewisham moved each bank holiday round to the next free day rather than pushing the whole week back, so most households saw no change at all. Second, it used a Sunday: Boxing Day’s round went out on 28 December. Do not assume a weekend means no collection.

What changes in 2026

The bank holidays this year, from GOV.UK, are:

  • Friday 25 December 2026, Christmas Day
  • Monday 28 December 2026, the substitute day for Boxing Day, which falls on a Saturday
  • Friday 1 January 2027, New Year’s Day

So the rounds most likely to move are the Friday rounds on 25 December and 1 January, and the Monday round on 28 December. The council has not said where they will go, and we will not guess. Lewisham’s own term dates page gives the Boxing Day substitute as Monday 29 December, but GOV.UK has it as 28 December.

How to check your own day

The council’s find your collection day checker returns your next dates for each bin. Check it in the week before Christmas. Our bin collection days page sets out what goes in each bin and how the fortnightly black bin rota works.

Christmas trees

The last tree scheme Lewisham published, in December 2023, took real trees from 26 December to the end of January at 14 park drop-off points (recycle your Christmas tree, Lewisham Council, published 13 December 2023):

  • Blackheath, changing room car park
  • Mayow Park, Mayow Road, café entrance
  • Sydenham Wells Park, Wells Park Road, main entrance
  • Telegraph Hill, Kitto Road/Pepys Road entrance
  • Blythe Hill, Codrington Hill entrance
  • Manor House Gardens, Old Road entrance
  • Mountsfield Park, George Lane entrance
  • Hilly Fields, Adelaide Avenue/Montague corner and bowling green corner
  • Northbrook, Baring Road entrance
  • Chinbrook, Amblecote Road, car park entrance
  • Deptford Park, Scawen Road, depot entrance
  • Forster Park, Whitefoot Lane, top entrance
  • Friendly Gardens, Thornville Street
  • Broadway Fields, Brookmill Road

The council has not republished that list since, so treat it as a guide until this year’s is confirmed. Take all the decorations off first.

If you pay for garden waste, the tree can go in your garden waste bin, cut into pieces no bigger than 10cm thick and 50cm long. Artificial trees cannot go in that bin. The free Landmann Way Reuse and Recycling Centre also takes garden waste, but it is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Other council services over Christmas 2025

The same notice listed the rest of the council’s festive hours. We summarise last year’s here so you know the pattern:

  • Phone lines: closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and open 9am to 5pm on the other weekdays.
  • Libraries: Catford, Deptford and Downham shut on 25 and 26 December and 1 January, and closed at 1pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
  • Catford, Deptford and Lewisham markets: normal trading on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and no trading on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day.
  • Parking: enforced every day except Christmas Day. Our parking in Lewisham page covers which restrictions still apply.

Still to be confirmed

  • Christmas 2026 revised collection dates. Expected in the council’s Christmas notice in early December. We will add the full table here.
  • The 2026/27 Christmas tree drop-off points. Expected in December.

Sources