Council services - winter changes
Our Bishop's Stortford office will be open as normal until 2pm on Wednesday 24 December, and phones available until 4pm before we close.
Our customer services team will be available on Monday 29 December and Tuesday 30 December from 9am to 5pm, and on Wednesday 31 December from 9am-4pm by calling 01279 655261 (our offices will not be open for face-to-face appointments during this time.)
Please note the council is closed all day on Friday 2 January.
Our online services will continue to be available throughout the festive period.
If you need to contact us in an emergency (such as homelessness), call 01279 655261 and follow the out of hours information, or find more information on our website.
There will be changes to bin collection days between Thursday 25 December and Saturday 17 January. See full details of the changes here.
Make sure your bins or waste containers are on the boundary of your property by 6.30am on the day of your collection.
You can check your bin collection day and which bin(s) to put out on our website or by downloading our council app where you can also set up handy notifications and receive updates in the event of any adverse weather conditions disrupting collections.
Please note there will be no garden waste collections between 25 December and 9 January. If you are signed up for garden waste collections, you can leave real Christmas trees out for collection when services resume from Saturday 10 January.
Change in collection date
| Current Collection Day | Updated Collection Day |
|---|---|
| Thursday 25 December | Monday 29 December |
| Friday 26 December | Tuesday 30 December |
| Monday 29 December | Wednesday 31 December |
| Tuesday 30 December | Friday 2 January |
| Wednesday 31 December | Saturday 3 January |
| Thursday 1 January | Monday 5 January |
| Friday 2 January | Tuesday 6 January |
| Monday 5 January | Wednesday 7 January |
| Tuesday 6 January | Thursday 8 January |
| Wednesday 7 January | Friday 9 January |
| Thursday 8 January | Saturday 10 January |
| Friday 9 January | Monday 12 January |
| Monday 12 January | Tuesday 13 January |
| Tuesday 13 January | Wednesday 14 January |
| Wednesday 14 January | Thursday 15 January |
| Thursday 15 January | Friday 16 January |
| Friday 16 January | Saturday 17 January |
There will be no garden waste collections between Thursday 25 December and Friday 9 January 2026. We will be collecting garden waste from Saturday 10 January 2026.
Please note: Your post-Christmas garden waste collection dates will be updated in the app and on the website from the evening of Wednesday 24 December. Please check back for your next collection after this date.
If you are a garden waste subscriber, you can leave your real Christmas tree out for collection when services resume.
- Remove all decorations, lights, stands or pots
- Leave your Christmas trees on the edge of your property on your garden waste day, in or next to your garden waste wheelie bin
- Trees taller than six feet should be chopped up to reduce the height
- Tree trunk girth should be no more than 10cm
- Branches should be no more than 3cm in diameter
Alternatively, you can take Christmas trees to your local Recycling Centre.
Remember that any additional recycling can be placed next to your recycling bins in a cardboard or plastic box before 6.30am on your collection day. You can also take items to your nearest recycling centre.
| Item | Households | Flats |
|---|---|---|
| Advent calendar (plastic insert) | Remove the foil coating before placing in your black-lidded mixed recycling bin | Remove the foil coating before placing in your mixed recycling bin |
| Advent calendar (cardboard outer) | Blue-lidded cardboard and paper bin | Cardboard and paper bin |
| Batteries | Do not place batteries in any of your bins as they can cause fires in our collection vehicles. Take them to a recycling centre, or to a supermarket with a used battery bin | Do not place in any bin -Take them to a recycling centre, or to a supermarket with a used battery bin |
| Baubles | Donate if in good condition, or if damaged place in your purple-lidded bin | Donate if in good condition, or if damaged place in your non-recycling bin |
| Biscuit tins (metal) | Reuse for storage, or place in your black-lidded mixed recycling bin | Reuse for storage, or place in your mixed recycling bin |
| Christmas cards with embellishments/ decorations (e.g. glitter, foil, sticky pads, ribbons, LED lights, musical chips) | Cut up and re-use as gift tags next year, or purple-lidded bin | Re-use, or place in your non-recycling bin |
| Christmas cards without embellishments/ decorations | Cut up and re-use as gift tags next year, or put in your blue-lidded bin | Re-use, or place in your cardboard and paper bin |
| Christmas crackers | Any plain paper or cardboard elements (e.g. paper hats, jokes, games, cardboard inner tube) can all go in your blue-lidded bin. All other parts (e.g. foil wrapper, ribbons, plastic decorations, snap etc.) go in the purple-lidded bin. | Any plain paper or cardboard elements (e.g. paper hats, jokes, games, cardboard inner tube) can all go in your paper and cardboard bin. All other parts (e.g. foil wrapper, ribbons, plastic decorations, snap etc.) go in the general waste bin. |
| Christmas lights | Donate if in good condition, or if damaged take to the recycling centre or find your local electrical waste drop off point | Donate if in good condition, or if damaged take to the recycling centre or find your local electrical waste drop off point |
| Christmas tree (artificial) | Donate if in good condition, or take to a recycling centre | Donate if in good condition, or take to a recycling centre |
| Christmas tree (real) | Next to brown bin if you subscribe to garden waste collections, take to a recycling centre, or check your local garden centre for their take-back schemes | Take to a recycling centre or check your local garden centre for their take-back schemes |
| Electrical items | Donate if in good condition, or if damaged take to the recycling centre or find your local electrical waste drop off point | Donate if in good condition, or if damaged take to the recycling centre or find your local electrical waste drop off point |
| Foil and foil trays | Black-lidded mixed recycling bin (please ensure they are rinsed and free from food debris) | Mixed recycling bin (please ensure they are rinsed and free from food debris) |
| Food waste | Food caddy | Food waste bin |
| Kitchen towels/ paper napkins | Purple-lidded bin | Non-recyclable waste bin |
| Party hats (paper/card only without glitter or trimmings) | Blue-lidded cardboard and paper bin | Cardboard and paper bin |
| Party poppers | Purple-lidded bin | Non-recyclable waste bin |
| Plastic sweet tubs and tins | Reuse for storage, or place in your black-lidded mixed recycling bin | Reuse for storage, or place in your mixed recycling bin |
| Polystyrene packaging | Purple-lidded bin | Non-recyclable waste bin |
| Tinsel | Donate or place in your purple-lidded bin | Donate or place in your non-recyclable waste bin |
| Toys | Donate, take to the recycling centre or place in your purple-lidded bin | Donate, take to the recycling centre or place in your non-recyclable waste bin |
| Wrapping paper - plain brown or printed paper, no foil or metallic effect | Blue-lidded cardboard and paper bin | Cardboard and paper bin |
| Wrapper paper with foil, plastic or glitter coating | Purple-lidded bin | Non-recyclable waste bin |
For additional information on what to recycle, check the 'what goes in my bins' page, or download the East Herts Council app and use the 'Recycling information' section.
Resident Parking Zones
| 24 December (Christmas Eve) | Permit scheme & all other restrictions apply |
| 25 December (Christmas Day) | No permit or visitor voucher required. Please note: Double Yellow line restrictions always apply |
| 26 December (Boxing Day) | No permit or visitor voucher required. Please note: Double Yellow line restrictions always apply |
| Saturday 27 December | Permit scheme & all other restrictions apply |
| Sunday 28 December | Permit scheme & all other restrictions apply |
| Monday 29 December | Permit scheme & all other restrictions apply |
| Tuesday 30 December | Permit scheme & all other restrictions apply |
| 31 December (New Years Eve) | Permit scheme & all other restrictions apply |
| 1 January (New Years Day) | No permit or visitor voucher required. Please note: Double Yellow line restrictions always apply |
| Friday 2 January | Permit scheme & all other restrictions apply |
Are you struggling to heat your home? You may be entitled to support. Fill in this quick online form to find out what help you may be eligible for or call 0800 107 0044 (tenants and landlords must apply by phone): https://www.bhbh.org.uk/make-a-referral/
Find a warm, sociable, safe space near you this winter with Hertfordshire County Council’s Warm Spaces initiative.