No bins on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day. In 2026 two of those fall on a Friday. Last year's moved dates, tip hours and the garden waste break.

Cheshire East does not collect bins on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day, and every other bank holiday is a normal collection day (Cheshire East: bin collection days). The council has not yet published its moved dates for Christmas 2026. It says they will appear on your online collection calendar before the day.

The quick answer

  • No collections on Friday 25 December, Saturday 26 December or Friday 1 January.
  • In 2026 Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on a Friday, so Friday households are the ones whose bins will move. Last year it was Thursday and Friday households.
  • Last year’s moved dates were published on 11 December 2025. Expect the 2026 list in early December.

What happened last Christmas

The council’s release of 11 December 2025 moved only the bins that fell on the three days themselves (Cheshire East: changes to bin collections over the festive period). Christmas Day and New Year’s Day were Thursdays in 2025, and Boxing Day a Friday.

Due on Black bin moved to Silver bin moved to
Christmas Day, Thu 25 Dec 2025 Tuesday 23 December Monday 22 December
Boxing Day, Fri 26 Dec 2025 Monday 29 December Tuesday 30 December
New Year’s Day, Thu 1 Jan 2026 Monday 5 January Tuesday 6 January

The pattern is worth knowing: the council pulled the Christmas Day round forward into the same week and pushed the Boxing Day and New Year rounds back into the following week, spread across the Monday and Tuesday. Nobody else’s day changed.

What 2026 looks like on the calendar

This year the three no-collection days are a Friday, a Saturday and a Friday. Cheshire East does not normally collect on Saturdays, so on the council’s own rule the only rounds that should need moving are the Friday rounds on 25 December and 1 January. That is our reading of the calendar, not a published council schedule, and we will replace it with the council’s dates as soon as they appear.

One date to watch: the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December this year. The council’s rule names Boxing Day rather than the substitute bank holiday, and it has not said which way it will treat the Monday. If you are on a Monday round, check your calendar in December.

Your round may change before Christmas anyway

This is not a normal year for bins in Cheshire East. From late autumn 2026 the council is moving black bins to every three weeks and starting weekly food waste, and it warns that your collection day may change with it. It says the online calendar will show your food waste start date and any new collection day by mid-October (bin collection days). So the day you check for Christmas should be your new day, not the one you have now. Look it up on My collection day. Our bin collection days page has the full detail of the change.

Garden waste stops for about four weeks

Garden bins are not emptied between mid-December and mid-January. Last winter the final collection was Friday 19 December 2025 and the service restarted for 2026 subscribers in the week commencing 19 January (Cheshire East, festive collections release). The subscription runs January to December, so the January restart is the first collection of the new year’s scheme, and you need to have renewed.

The tip over Christmas

Last year the household waste recycling centres, including Danes Moss at Gawsworth and Knutsford off Mobberley Road, were closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day and closed at 1pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Winter hours are 8.30am to 4pm from October to March (using household waste recycling centres). Weekend and bank holiday visits need a booked slot, which is the rule that catches people out on the days after Christmas. Booking, permits and the mobile tip at Duke Street are covered on our bin collection days page.

What is still to be confirmed

  • The 2026 moved dates for Friday rounds. Expected early December; last year’s came on 11 December.
  • Whether Monday 28 December is treated as Boxing Day.
  • The last garden waste collection of 2026 and the 2027 restart week.
  • Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve closing times at the tips.

If you are heading into town to shop, our parking in Macclesfield page has the car park charges, and parking in council car parks is free on Christmas Day.

Sources

Checked on 25 September 2026. We will update this page when Cheshire East publishes its Christmas 2026 collection changes.