Maidstone has not published its 2026 Christmas bin dates. Last year crews started at 5am on Christmas Eve, rounds shifted to 12 January and garden bins paused.
Maidstone Borough Council has not yet published its revised bin collection dates for Christmas 2026. Its Christmas waste collections page still shows last winter’s timetable, which is the best guide to what will happen this year: an early start on Christmas Eve, rounds pushed back by a day until the middle of January, and garden waste and bulky collections stopped for about a fortnight. This page sets out last year’s changes, what is different about the 2026 calendar, and when to come back for the new dates.
The quick answer
- The 2026 dates are not published yet. The council’s page still carries the 2025/26 schedule. We will update this page when the new one appears.
- Last year, crews started at 5am on Christmas Eve and asked for bins to be out from that time. Shifted collection days then ran until Monday 12 January 2026.
- Garden waste stopped over Christmas and restarted on Thursday 8 January 2026; bulky collections restarted on Monday 12 January. Clinical collections ran as normal.
What happened last Christmas
The council’s page, as it stands on 25 September 2026, lists the changes that applied from New Year’s Day 2026 onwards. The rule it gives is simple: “Only your collection day will change. We will still collect the same bin as scheduled.”
| Normal collection day | Collected instead on |
|---|---|
| Thursday 1 January 2026 | Saturday 3 January |
| Friday 2 January | Monday 5 January |
| Monday 5 January | Tuesday 6 January |
| Tuesday 6 January | Wednesday 7 January |
| Wednesday 7 January | Thursday 8 January |
| Thursday 8 January | Friday 9 January |
| Friday 9 January | Saturday 10 January |
Source: Maidstone Borough Council, Christmas waste collections. The page no longer shows rows for the days before New Year, so we cannot tell you from the council’s own record how the Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2025 rounds were handled.
Garden waste was treated differently. Brown bin rounds due between Christmas Day and 7 January were each put back two weeks, so a round due on Thursday 25 December was collected on Thursday 8 January, and one due on Wednesday 7 January went on Wednesday 21 January.
Why 2026 will look different
The bank holidays fall differently this year. According to Kent County Council’s term dates page, which lists them, the Christmas bank holidays are Friday 25 December, Monday 28 December (the substitute day, because Boxing Day is a Saturday) and Friday 1 January 2027.
That puts a bank holiday on a Friday, the following Monday and the Friday after that. Last year’s pattern was to slide every round back by a day and finish the week with a Saturday round, so if the council repeats it, expect Friday rounds to move twice and the knock-on to run well into January. That is our reading of last year’s method, not the council’s announcement: wait for the published table before you change your routine.
Garden waste, bulky items and clinical waste
- Garden waste: last winter it was suspended until 8 January 2026. The council’s garden bin page says the service stops for at least two weeks over Christmas and New Year.
- Bulky collections: suspended until 12 January 2026 last time. Book early if you are clearing out before Christmas.
- Clinical collections: ran as normal over the whole period.
Christmas trees
Real trees can be recycled once tinsel, decorations, pots and stands are removed. If you pay for garden waste, put the tree next to your brown bin on your normal collection day. If you do not, the council says to take it to the Tovil or Allington tip; our Maidstone tip opening times page has the hours and the booking rule.
Last January, Heart of Kent Hospice volunteers also collected real trees from homes in Maidstone between Friday 9 and Sunday 11 January 2026 in exchange for a donation, and ran a drop-off point at Lockmeadow. The council’s page links to the hospice for bookings; the 2027 dates have not been announced.
What is still to be confirmed
- The 2026/27 refuse and recycling table, including how the Friday 25 December and Friday 1 January rounds move.
- The date garden waste stops and restarts.
- Whether the early 5am start on Christmas Eve is repeated.
- The Heart of Kent Hospice tree collection dates for January 2027.
We will check the council’s page again in mid-November and update this one as soon as the dates appear. For your regular day, what goes in which bin and the bank holiday rules for the rest of the year, see Maidstone bin collection days. If you are driving into town for Christmas shopping, our parking in Maidstone page has the car parks and charges.
Sources
- Maidstone Borough Council, Christmas waste collections (fetched 25 September 2026)
- Maidstone Borough Council, Order a garden bin
- Kent County Council, School term dates (bank holiday listing for 2026/27)
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