Harrow's Christmas bin days shift for three weeks: last year Thursday bins went on 27 December and Friday bins on 29 December. The 2026 table follows in November.
Harrow Council has not published its 2026 Christmas and New Year bin schedule yet. Its page for last year’s dates has been taken down and now returns a “page not found” error. What we do know, from the council’s own archived pages, is how the schedule works: every round moves for three weeks, not one, and garden waste stops altogether for two. This page sets out last year’s table so you can see the pattern, and we will replace it with the 2026 dates the day the council publishes them.
The quick answer
Harrow’s 2026 Christmas bin dates have not been published. In 2025 the changes ran for three weeks, from Monday 22 December to Saturday 10 January, with Thursday collections moved to Saturday 27 December and Friday collections to Monday 29 December. Garden waste collections paused for two weeks. In 2024 the council had its Christmas table online by 22 November, so expect the 2026 dates in mid to late November.
Why 2026 will look different
Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, Boxing Day on a Saturday, the substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December and New Year’s Day on a Friday. Harrow Council’s school calendar lists 25 and 28 December 2026 and 1 January 2027 as the bank holidays (Harrow Council). In 2025 Christmas fell on a Thursday, so last year’s table cannot simply be rolled forward a year. Friday and Monday rounds are the ones most likely to move this time. Do not guess from the table below: wait for the council’s version.
What happened in 2025
This is Harrow Council’s Christmas bin page as it stood in December 2025, read from the Wayback Machine’s copy because the council has since removed the live page.
| Usual day | Christmas week | Week after Christmas | Week after New Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Mon 22 Dec | Tue 30 Dec | Tue 6 Jan |
| Tuesday | Tue 23 Dec | Wed 31 Dec | Wed 7 Jan |
| Wednesday | Wed 24 Dec | Fri 2 Jan | Thu 8 Jan |
| Thursday | Sat 27 Dec | Sat 3 Jan | Fri 9 Jan |
| Friday | Mon 29 Dec | Mon 5 Jan | Sat 10 Jan |
Two things stand out. Monday to Wednesday collections held their normal day in Christmas week and only moved afterwards. And the knock-on lasted into the second week of January, so a Friday household’s bins were a day late until Saturday 10 January.
The year before, in 2024, the council printed some of its Christmas week dates as a choice of two days, such as “Monday 23rd or Tuesday 24th December”, because rounds were split (Wayback Machine copy, November 2024). If the 2026 table does the same, the council’s postcode lookup is the only way to tell which of the two days is yours.
Garden waste
In both 2024 and 2025 the council said all garden waste collections pause for two weeks over Christmas, and told residents to check their own dates by postcode. The paid garden waste service costs £69 a year; more on that, and on what goes in which bin, on Harrow bin collection days.
Christmas trees and the tip
The Harrow recycling centre on Forward Drive, Wealdstone, lists Christmas trees among the things it takes, and it is open every day of the year except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, from 8.30am to 4.30pm. You must book a slot before you go, and bring photo ID and proof of address (Harrow Council, recycling centre). The booking rules are set out on our bin collection days page.
Missed collections
Harrow’s bin lookup lets you report a missed bin once your street has been marked as done, or from 3pm on your collection day if it has not, and you have three working days to report it (Harrow Council, bin days). Over Christmas, count those days from the revised collection date, not your usual one.
Still to confirm
- The 2026 Christmas and New Year schedule. Expected in mid to late November, going by 2024’s timing. This page will carry it.
- Whether the garden waste pause is again two weeks, and which two.
If you are travelling over the holiday too, see Harrow Christmas travel, and for anything dug up on your street, Harrow roadworks and travel.
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