Christmas Day and New Year's Day both fall on a Friday in 2026, so only Friday rounds move. Where Stroud moved them in 2019, 2024 and 2025, and when to check.
If your bins go out on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, Christmas 2026 changes nothing for you. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on a Friday this year and Boxing Day on a Saturday, so the only people whose collection moves are those on a Friday round. Stroud District Council has not yet said where those two Friday rounds will go. Its notice usually arrives in the middle of December.
The quick answer
- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday rounds: no change over Christmas and New Year 2026.
- Friday 25 December and Friday 1 January rounds will move. The new days are not published yet. In 2025 the council moved bank holiday rounds to the Monday of the same week; in 2024 it used Monday and Saturday.
- Expect the council’s notice between 9 and 16 December, the range of the last three years. We will add the dates here the day it appears.
Why only Friday rounds are affected
Stroud’s refuse, recycling and food waste rounds run Tuesday to Friday. The council’s waste policy says collections are “unaffected by bank holidays due to collections taking place Tuesday to Friday”, and that the exceptions are Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. (Stroud District Council, Supplementary Waste Collection Policy, section 4)
In 2026 those three days land on Friday 25 December, Saturday 26 December and Friday 1 January. There is no Saturday round to move, and the substitute Boxing Day holiday on Monday 28 December falls on a day with no refuse round either. That leaves two Friday collections needing a new day.
What the council did in the last three years it published
| Year | Christmas Day round moved to | Boxing Day round moved to | New Year’s Day round moved to | Notice published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Monday 22 December | Monday 29 December | Monday 5 January | 15 December 2025 |
| 2024 | Monday 23 December | Saturday 28 December | Saturday 4 January | 9 December 2024 |
| 2019 | Saturday 28 December | Monday 30 December | Saturday 4 January | 16 December 2019 |
Sources: Stroud District Council, 15 December 2025; Stroud District Council bulletin, 9 December 2024; Stroud District Council, 16 December 2019.
Two things stand out. The council has used a Monday in some years and a Saturday in others, so do not assume last year’s pattern. And the 2024 notice had to be reissued: the bulletin went out headed “AMENDED” with the note “Please note one of the dates below has been amended”. Check the date again the week before, not just the day the notice appears.
In every one of those years the council ended the same way: “All other collection days remain the same.”
The rules that apply every Christmas
- Bins out by 6am on your collection day. The council repeated this in its 2025 notice.
- One extra bag after Christmas. “Residents are permitted to present one additional bag on their first refuse collection after Christmas.” (Waste policy, section 4)
- Snow or ice. If a collection is missed because of the weather, leave the bins out for up to two days, including Saturday but not Sunday. If they are still not collected, take them in and wait for your next scheduled day. (Stroud District Council, 15 December 2025)
- Cardboard should be flattened, folded or cut to roughly the size of your recycling box and kept dry.
What goes where at Christmas
From the council’s 2025 Christmas notice:
- Recyclable: rinsed foil and foil trays, empty aerosols, drinks cartons (green bin or bag), cards and wrapping paper without glitter. For wrapping paper use the scrunch test: “if it stays in a ball, it’s recyclable; if it springs back, reuse or put in general waste.”
- Batteries and vapes go in a separate clear bag on top of your food waste caddy.
- Not recyclable at the kerb: soft plastics such as turkey wrap and bread bags, crisp packets and coffee pouches, broken baubles and glass, blister packs, polystyrene, small electricals such as Christmas lights. Take empty balloon gas canisters to a household recycling centre.
Real Christmas trees
The council does not collect trees at the kerb. It points residents to the collection run by Longfield Community Hospice with JustHelping, which picks trees up from your home for a donation and chips them. Longfield says its last campaign collected more than 4,684 trees across Gloucestershire and raised £92,360. (Longfield Community Hospice) Booking for the 2026/27 collection is not open yet.
Still to confirm
- The two moved Friday rounds (25 December and 1 January). Expected mid-December; your own date will also appear on the council’s My House lookup.
- Longfield’s 2026/27 tree collection dates and booking link.
For the normal weekly pattern, container sizes and garden waste charges, see our Stroud bin collection days page. For the tip’s Christmas hours, see Stroud recycling centre opening times.
Sources
- Stroud District Council, Changes to Christmas waste and recycling schedules, 15 December 2025
- Stroud District Council bulletin, 9 December 2024 (amended)
- Stroud District Council, Christmas and New Year bin collections, 16 December 2019 (archived)
- Stroud District Council, Supplementary Waste Collection Policy
- Longfield Community Hospice, Christmas tree campaign
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