Missed bin collections left rubbish “spilling out onto the streets” last Christmas, and the council is preparing to avoid a repeat one year on.

Swindon Borough Council apologised to the town's citizens days into 2024 for 40,000 missed bin collections over the Christmas period due to teething issues with the new waste collection system.

Some Boxing Day collections happened on January 9 - over two weeks later - with residents upset about overflowing bins at an especially high-waste time of the year.

This year for Christmas 2024, the council has brought in three extra lorries to collect waste and recycling “ensure our service runs as smoothly as possible”.(Image: Swindon Advertiser)

It comes after an announcement that from Wednesday, December 25 everyone’s waste and recycling collection day will permanently move two working days later.

Last Christmas, the council ended up bringing in extra drivers and vehicles to clear the backlog of missed collections.

They joined other new lorries costing a total of £7 million with Swindon-related names such as Charlie Aust-bin, Melinda Mess-Collector and Binnie Piper.

Around 30 per cent more waste is produced around Christmas including over one billion Christmas cards, according to the government website. 

The additional waste from Christmas equates to approximately 3 million tonnes, says packaging company GWP Group.

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