Bexley Council has released its festive bin collection schedule as well as details on how borough residents can dispose of Christmas trees.
There will be no waste or recycling collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day. Those who are due to have their bins collected on Christmas Day will have them collected on December 27, and those expecting Boxing Day collections will have to wait until December 28.
Residents expecting collections on January 1 and 2 will have their collection days pushed back to January 2 and 3 respectively. Normal arrangements will resume on Monday, January 5.
The garden waste service will also be suspended for two weeks from December 22, returning on January 5. Bexley Council has said that real Christmas trees can be disposed of as part of this service. Residents must remove all decorations, cut the tree in half and place it next to their garden waste bin in order for it to be collected.
The council has also advised residents about recycling Christmas cards and wrapping paper. The authority said that most wrapping paper can be recycled if its passes the 'scrunch test'. If it doesn't spring back once scrunched then it is non-foil and can be recycled as long as sticky tape is removed. Foil or glitter decorated papers must go into general waste alongside sticky tape and wrapping decorations such as ribbons or bows.
In terms of Bexley's Reuse and Recycling Centres, the Crayford centre in Thames Road and the Foots Cray centre in Maidstone Road are open 7.30am to 4pm. They will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
Bexley residents can now also benefit from using clothing reuse charity TRAID's free home collection service if they are looking to clear out their wardrobe. Those donating two bags of clothes to TRAID can also leave out a small bag of broken small or medium-sized electrical items such as kettles or toasters for collection. Collections can be booked here.
Bexley Council has also stated that batteries, vapes and electrical items should never be placed in either recycling or waste bins. This is because of their potential to cause fires that can quickly spread among rubbish.
Small electrical items can be placed into electrical recycling banks placed across the borough, while larger ones can be taken to one of the Reuse and Recycling sites or collected for a charge via the council's bulky waste collection service.
Batteries can be taken to the Reuse and Recycling Centres, council libraries, Civic Offices and most large supermarkets where they have designated containers for recycling. Vapes must have their batteries removed for recycling and then should be recycled as other electrical items shown above.
The council's Civic Offices in Bexleyheath will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Those needing out of hours council support should call 020 8303 7777.