RESIDENTS are being informed about changes to waste collections over the festive period and reminded to recycle as much as possible.

There will be no collections on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Wheelie bin households due a collection on Christmas Day will have rubbish collected on Christmas Eve. Wheelie bin households due a collection on Boxing Day will switch to Saturday, December 28.

Blue bag households, which receive a weekly service, due a collection on Christmas Day and Boxing Day will, as in previous years, not have a collection. However, extra blue bags will be collected the following week when service resumes with collections taking place on the usual day, either Wednesday, January 1 or Thursday, January 2.

Recycling collections for all households will resume as normal starting Monday, December 30. Collection of green waste and plastics will resume starting Monday, January 6.

Real Christmas trees can be left out as part of residents’ green waste and will be picked up free of charge on the usual collection day between Monday, January 6 and Friday, January 17. Residents are asked to ensure all decorations are removed.

To help with the increased waste, extra recyclables which don’t fit in the box will be collected, providing it is clean. Residents are asked to rinse jars, fold cardboard boxes and separate the different materials so collections are not slowed down.

The amount of domestic waste generated in the country increases by 3m tonnes over the festive period – the equivalent to 250,000 double decker buses. Every tonne of waste costs councils £100 to send to landfill, which means if no one recycled at Christmas it would cost an extra £300m and environmental damage.

There are lots of other things you can do to reduce waste, from creating a Christmas meal planner which takes into account leftovers to donating unwanted gifts or old but working electrical items to charity or take them to the Household Waste and Recycling Centre, in Cheney Manor Industrial Estate. It is open every day of the year, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Coun Richard Hurley, cabinet member for Public Protection, Housing and StreetSmart, said: “Swindon residents are really supportive of the drive to reduce waste and recycle. I would like to say a big thank you for not only saving the council money but also creating a cleaner environment for everyone.”