No Horsham bin collections on 25, 26 Dec or 1 Jan 2026/27; crews work Mon 28 Dec and Sats 2 and 9 Jan. Your moved day, garden waste and tip closures.

Horsham District Council has published its bin collection arrangements for Christmas 2026: no collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day; crews work Bank Holiday Monday 28 December and two extra Saturdays, 2 and 9 January; normal collections return in the week of 11 January; garden waste is suspended from 21 December to 4 January (Our District, November 2026). Below is the day your round moves to, read from the council’s own postcode calendar, then the pattern of the last three years and the tips.

Overview

  • No collections on 25 December, 26 December or 1 January.
  • Crews work Monday 28 December (the Boxing Day bank holiday) and Saturdays 2 and 9 January to catch up.
  • Normal days return in the week commencing Monday 11 January.
  • Garden waste stops from the week of 21 December and restarts on 4 January.
  • Food waste moves with your other bins, on every moved date.
  • Your own dates are in bold, marked “Christmas Schedule”, on the council’s check your bin collection day calendar. A printed copy is available on 01403 733144.

Horsham Christmas 2026 bin days, by your normal day

The council’s notice does not say which day each round moves to. Its postcode calendar does. We ran 20 addresses from Henfield to Rudgwick through it on 13 November 2026, and every address with the same normal day moved the same way:

Horsham bin collection days over Christmas 2026, by normal collection day (council postcode calendar, 20 addresses read 13 November 2026)
Normal dayLast normal collectionChristmas scheduleNormal again
MondayMon 21 DecTue 29 Dec, Tue 5 JanMon 11 Jan
TuesdayTue 22 DecWed 30 Dec, Wed 6 JanTue 12 Jan
WednesdayWed 23 DecThu 31 Dec, Thu 7 JanWed 13 Jan
ThursdayThu 24 DecSat 2 Jan, Fri 8 JanThu 14 Jan
FridayFri 18 DecMon 28 Dec, Mon 4 Jan, Sat 9 JanFri 15 Jan

The bins keep alternating through the change: each moved date carries the bin that was due, so count on from your last normal collection. Friday streets, which include central Horsham and Southwater, have the longest gap before Christmas (18 to 28 December) and three moved dates. Thursday streets such as Roffey and Broadbridge Heath get a normal Christmas Eve collection and then a Saturday one on 2 January. Which villages fall on which day is on our Horsham bin collection days page.

The council will keep emptying dog bins and litter bins across the district through Christmas week.

What happened last Christmas (2025)

The council’s November 2025 notice said (Our District, November 2025):

  • No collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day.
  • Crews worked Saturday 27 December and the additional Saturdays of 3 January and 10 January to catch up.
  • Waste and recycling were back to the normal schedule from the week commencing 12 January.
  • Garden waste was suspended from the week commencing 22 December and resumed on 6 January.
  • Dog bins and litter bins were emptied as normal through Christmas week.

Three years of the same pattern

The council has run the same shape since at least 2023. Only the dates move with the calendar.

Horsham District Council Christmas bin arrangements, 2023/24 to 2026/27.
ChristmasDays with no collectionCatch-up SaturdaysNormal schedule backGarden waste paused
2023/2425 Dec, 26 Dec, 1 Jan30 Dec, 6 Jan, 13 Janw/c 15 Januaryw/c 25 Dec to Tue 9 Jan
2024/2525 Dec, 26 Dec28 Dec, 4 Jan, 11 Janw/c 13 JanuaryFrom 23 Dec to Tue 7 Jan
2025/2625 Dec, 26 Dec, 1 Jan27 Dec, 3 Jan, 10 Janw/c 12 Januaryw/c 22 Dec to 6 Jan
2026/2725 Dec, 26 Dec, 1 Jan2 Jan, 9 Jan (plus bank holiday Mon 28 Dec)w/c 11 Januaryw/c 21 Dec to 4 Jan

Sources: Our District, November 2026; Horsham District Council, 7 December 2023; Our District, November 2024; Our District, November 2025.

2026/27 is the first of the four years with only two catch-up Saturdays, because crews work the Boxing Day bank holiday on Monday 28 December instead. The 2024/25 notice listed only Christmas Day and Boxing Day as non-collection days; it did not mention New Year’s Day.

What is different about Christmas 2026

The bank holidays fall on Fridays and a Monday. Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026, the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December because 26 December is a Saturday, and New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January 2027 (GOV.UK bank holidays). That is a different shape from last year’s Thursday and Friday, which is why the council is working the Monday bank holiday and needs only two Saturdays, 2 and 9 January, rather than last year’s three.

Weekly food waste is new since last Christmas’s announcement. Food waste collections have now been rolled out across the district, collected weekly on the same day as your recycling or general waste bin, out by 6am (Horsham District Council, food waste). The council’s notice says nothing specific about food caddies, but the postcode calendar answers it: on all 20 addresses we checked on 13 November, the orange-top food caddy is listed on every moved date, so it goes out with whichever bin is due.

Garden waste and your Christmas tree

Garden waste is a paid service at £64 a year for 25 collections, fortnightly “except at Christmas” in the council’s own words (garden waste collections). This year the council suspends it from the week commencing 21 December and restarts on Monday 4 January. On the postcode calendars, subscribers’ brown bins drop out of the weeks of 21 and 28 December and return on the moved day in the week of 4 January (Thursday 7 January at East Street, Billingshurst; Saturday 9 January at Newlands Road, Horsham).

The council’s advice on a real tree is that it can go in your garden waste bin (Our District, November 2022). A tree too big for the bin can go to a recycling centre.

The tips over Christmas

West Sussex County Council runs the two recycling centres in the district (full hours and rules on our Horsham tip opening times page), and both need a booked slot (Book to Recycle).

In 2026 that means Hop Oast, which would normally open on Fridays, loses both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day if last year’s closures are repeated. Billingshurst is closed on Fridays anyway. Both centre pages say winter hours run to 4pm from 1 October. Our Horsham bin collection days page covers what each centre takes.

Still to be confirmed

  • The county’s Christmas closures for the recycling centres. The bin dates are settled; the tip closures above are last winter’s until West Sussex County Council confirms this year’s.

Frequently asked questions

Are Horsham bins collected on Christmas Day?

No. The council’s 2026 notice says there will be no collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day, as in 2023 and 2025.

When will my bin be collected after Christmas in Horsham?

It depends on your normal day. Monday rounds go on Tuesday 29 December and Tuesday 5 January; Tuesday rounds on Wednesday 30 December and 6 January; Wednesday rounds on Thursday 31 December and 7 January; Thursday rounds on Saturday 2 January and Friday 8 January; Friday rounds on Monday 28 December, Monday 4 January and Saturday 9 January. Everyone is back to normal from the week of 11 January.

Is garden waste collected over Christmas in Horsham?

No. Garden waste is suspended from the week commencing 21 December and resumes on Monday 4 January 2027, on your moved day that week.

Is Horsham tip open over Christmas?

Last year all West Sussex recycling centres were closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day and open 9am to 4pm on their other days. You must book a slot before you go.

Sources

Checked against the council’s and county council’s own pages on 25 September 2026; 2026 bin dates added from the council’s November 2026 notice and postcode calendar on 13 November 2026.