Stafford Tip Opening Times: Winter Hours From 25 Oct

Stafford Recycling Centre on St Albans Road is open every day, 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm at weekends, until Saturday 24 October 2026. Stone’s, on Beacon Road, is closed every Monday and Tuesday. Both are run by Staffordshire County Council, need no booking for cars, and will close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day if the county repeats last year’s arrangements. Here are the Stafford tip opening times for autumn, winter and Christmas, and Stone’s alongside. Times below were rechecked against the county’s pages on 5 October 2026.

The quick answer

• Stafford (ST16 3DR): open 7 days, 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm weekends, until 24 October. Last winter it was 9am to 5pm every day.
• Stone (ST15 0NN): closed Monday and Tuesday, open Wednesday to Sunday.
• Christmas: last year every Staffordshire tip closed on 25 December, 26 December and 1 January, and closed at 3pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The 2026 notice is not out yet.

Opening hours now

Both from the county’s own centre pages, checked on 5 October 2026. The summer timetable runs from 29 March to 24 October 2026.

Stone’s full address is Beacon Road / Opal Way, Stone Business Park, Aston, ST15 0NN.

Stafford tip: where it is and what to check before you go

The Stafford tip is Staffordshire County Council’s Stafford Recycling Centre, St Albans Road, Stafford ST16 3DR, on the north side of town. It is the only council tip in Stafford itself; the nearest alternative is Stone, about seven miles north, which is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Before you load the car:

• No booking for cars. Visits in a car are unlimited and you do not need a permit.
• Vans, pick-ups and trailers need a permit. It allows 12 visits a year in a van or with a trailer over 1.5 metres; apply on the county’s van and trailer permits page and show it to staff on arrival.
• Check the item. The county’s I want to dispose of search says which centres take what.
• Check the notices page on the day. The county’s recycling centre notices, last updated 29 September 2026, say fridges and freezers are taken only when there is space, wood waste is “experiencing issues”, and trade waste is not being accepted at any centre because of capacity. None of the site-specific restrictions on that page (asbestos at Leek and Cannock, plasterboard at Cannock and Lichfield, several items at Burton) applies to Stafford or Stone.
• Phone: the county’s contact centre for the tips is 0300 111 8000.

Winter hours from 25 October

The county has not yet put its 2026/27 winter times on either page. What it published last winter is the best guide. The county’s page for Stafford, as archived in February 2026, showed 9am to 5pm every day of the week. Stone’s, as archived in March 2026, showed closed Monday and Tuesday, 9am to 5pm Wednesday to Sunday.

In both cases the change is to weekday closing, which comes forward an hour from 6pm to 5pm. Weekend hours stay the same. We will confirm the 2026 winter times when the county publishes them. On 5 October 2026 both centre pages still showed only the summer timetable ending 24 October, so treat 9am to 5pm from Sunday 25 October as last year’s pattern rather than a confirmed time.

Christmas and New Year

Last year the county’s opening times and bank holidays page, as it stood on 9 December 2025, said:

• All recycling centres closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
• Centres due to open would close at 3pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

If the same rule applies this year, the dates are:

Boxing Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. Last year’s notice did not mention the substitute day, because there was none. Stone is closed on Mondays anyway. For Stafford, check the county’s page before you go.

This year’s festive notice will be on the county’s recycling centre notices page, which carried nothing about Christmas when we checked on 25 September.

Real Christmas trees

Stafford Borough Council’s Christmas arrangements for 2025/26 gave three drop-off points for real trees between 5 and 12 January 2026, for anyone without a brown bin: Fletcher’s Garden Centre in Eccleshall (ST21 6JY), the Allotments car park in Gnosall and The Green recycling centre in Barlaston. Trees could also go to either tip. Brown bin subscribers could put trees in the bin cut into small pieces. The 2026/27 version of that page has not been published yet.

The same page reminded residents that wrapping paper cannot be recycled in Stafford borough and goes in the green bin, and that oversized cardboard should go to the tip, not beside the blue bin.

The rules that catch people out

From the county’s centre pages and its notices page on 5 October 2026:

• Cars need no permit and can visit as often as they like. A van, pick-up or trailer over 1.5 metres needs a van permit, which allows 12 visits a year.
• No trade waste at any Staffordshire centre at the moment, because of capacity, says the notices page. The Stafford and Stone pages still carry the standing rule that only Staffordshire businesses with a waste carriers licence may bring trade waste; the notice is the current position, so traders should not turn up expecting to tip.
• Wood: the county says it is “currently experiencing issues with wood waste”; check its wood and timber page before loading any.
• Fridges and freezers are taken “when we can”, depending on storage space at each site.
• Staff are not obliged to help lift heavy bags. Keep children and pets in the car.

The county’s contact centre for the tips is 0300 111 8000.

Frequently asked questions

What time does Stafford tip open?

9am every day. Until Saturday 24 October 2026 it closes at 6pm Monday to Friday and 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Last winter it closed at 5pm every day.

Do I need to book Stafford tip?

No, not in a car. Car visits are unlimited without a booking. Vans, pick-ups and trailers over 1.5 metres need a county van permit, which covers 12 visits a year.

Is Stafford tip open on Mondays?

Yes, Stafford is open seven days a week. Stone recycling centre is the one that closes on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Where is the Stafford tip?

St Albans Road, Stafford ST16 3DR. It is run by Staffordshire County Council, not Stafford Borough Council, which handles bins.

Related pages

Kerbside collections move over Christmas too. Every round in the borough goes out a day early in Christmas week; the full table is on our Stafford bin collection days page. For the drive, check our roadworks and travel page.