People in the Ashby area and North West Leicestershire have been reminded to check their waste collection dates online during the festive season - to avoid missing bin collections.

From today (Monday) to January 13, 2025, North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC) will make changes to recycling and waste collection schedules.

Garden bin collections, including the additional garden waste service, will be suspended between December 16 and January 13.

There will also be no recycling and waste collections on the following dates:

• Wednesday December 25 (if households normally receive a collection on a Wednesday, the collection will take place on Monday, December 23)
• Thursday December 26
• Friday December 27
• Tuesday December 31
• Wednesday January 1.

Bins and recycling containers should be put out for collection by 6am.

Bulky waste collections will be paused from Thursday, December 19 until Wednesday, January 8. Bookings for January collections will open on Monday, December 23.

NWLDC no longer delivers printed waste collection calendars to households across the district. Instead, so people can find their Christmas and 2025 collection dates, and download and print their own collection calendar, by visiting my.nwleics.gov.uk.

Alternatively, people can find their collection dates by putting their postcode in the 'My location' box on the council's website, or log in to their council 'MyAccount' at nwleics.gov.uk/myaccount

People are reminded to check their waste collection information carefully as there are also changes to which bins and containers can be put out over Christmas.

Accessible formats of the calendar, such as braille and large print, are available on request by contacting the council.

Councillor Michael Wyatt, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Community and Climate Change at NWLDC, said: "Our waste collection dates change every year for the festive season.

"We work hard to make sure there's minimal disruption to people's collections and that we get back to normal as quickly as possible.

"People can check their collection dates for this Christmas and for the coming year on the council's website, or by speaking to our customer service team."

The council is also encouraging people to recycle more over the festive season

• Extra plastic, cans, tins and glass can be put in a reusable plastic container such as a washing-up bowl or plastic storage box – keeping glass in a separate container on its own
• Extra cardboard should be flattened to no bigger than 2ft x 2ft and left neatly bundled next to the yellow bag. It can also be flattened to this size and put into cardboard boxes no bigger than a red recycling box. Packaging such as polystyrene or plastic must be removed
• Recycle brown paper in the yellow bag with cardboard
• Extra paper that doesn't fit in the blue bag can be put in a sturdy 'bag for life'
• Real Christmas trees can be recycled in the garden bin when the service restarts from 13 January. Bin lids must shut, so trees may need to be trimmed to fit
• Recycle household batteries in a lidded recyclable container such as a jam jar or butter tub and place them next to red boxes on collection day.