Get ready for Christmas collections

• Pick up extra green recycling bags before the busiest part of the season. You can collect up to two bags per visit from any of our collection hubs.
• Pass on useful clothes, toys, books, decorations and household items while somebody else can still enjoy them.
• Choose reusable wrapping or paper without glitter, foil or plastic coating.
• Check toys, lights, musical cards and novelty items for hidden batteries.
• If you are choosing a real Christmas tree, consider renting one that can be replanted and used again.

Donate, reuse or buy second-hand

Good-quality items can be useful to somebody else. Options include Anglo Doorstep Collections, First Days School Clothing, re3read book reuse scheme, local recycling banks and charity shops.

Make Christmas recycling easier

Food and leftovers

Save or freeze leftovers for another meal. Put unavoidable food waste, including peelings and bones, in your food waste container.

Wrapping and cardboard

Try the scrunch test: if wrapping paper stays scrunched and has no glitter, foil or plastic coating, it can usually go in your green recycling bag. Remove ribbons, bows and tape, then flatten cardboard and keep it clean and dry.

Glass and packaging

Take glass bottles and jars to a bottle bank or re3 recycling centre. Take soft plastics, including bags, packets, film and pouches, to a participating supermarket collection point.

Batteries and electricals

Never put batteries, vapes or electrical items in household rubbish or recycling. Recycle at re3 recycling centres or drop-off points in shops.

Check festive toys, lights, cards and novelty items for hidden batteries. Remove batteries where it is safe to do so, then use a battery or electrical recycling point. Take broken Christmas lights to a re3 electrical recycling point and bag them to avoid tangles.

Recycle your Christmas tree

Remove all decorations and lights before recycling a real Christmas tree.

• Garden waste: If using our garden waste collection service, chop up your real tree and put it in your brown garden waste bin or bag.
• Recycling centres: Take your real tree to an re3 recycling centre in Reading or Bracknell.
• Replant it: If your tree still has roots and remains healthy, give it another life in your garden.
• Sue Ryder Treecycling: Arrange collection from an eligible postcode for a small donation. The 2026–27 booking deadline, collection dates and eligible postcodes are to be confirmed.
• Artificial trees: These cannot be recycled. If yours is still in good condition, offer it to friends or family, a community exchange group or a charity shop.

Recycling centres

Real Christmas trees, broken Christmas lights, electrical items, glass and other materials can be taken to a re3 recycling-centre in Reading or Bracknell.

Both centres are normally open from 8am to 6pm between October and March. They close at 4pm on Christmas Eve (24 December) and New Year’s Eve (31 December) and are closed on Christmas Day (25 December), Boxing Day (26 December) and New Year’s Day (1 January).

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