Bury, Haverhill and Mildenhall tips open 9am to 4pm from October to March, closed Wednesdays and on 25, 26 December and 1 January. Every visit needs booking.

From 1 October the recycling centres at Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and Mildenhall open 9am to 4pm, seven days a week except Wednesday. They close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. You must book a time slot before every visit.

The quick answer

  • October to March: 9am to 4pm, including Sundays and bank holidays. Closed every Wednesday.
  • Closed 25 December, 26 December and 1 January. Those are the only closures the county lists; Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both fall on a Thursday this year.
  • Booking is compulsory for the tip itself. The charity re-use shop at Bury, which opens every day, does not need a booking.

All three centres are run by Suffolk County Council through Suffolk Recycling, not by West Suffolk Council, and the hours are the same at all 11 Suffolk sites.

Opening hours

Day April to September October to March
Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday 9am to 5pm 9am to 4pm
Wednesday Closed Closed
Thursday 9am to 5pm (7pm May to August) 9am to 4pm
Sunday and bank holidays 9am to 5pm 9am to 4pm
Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day Closed

The three centres in West Suffolk

Centre Address Plasterboard?
Bury St Edmunds Fornham Road, Bury St Edmunds, IP31 1SJ, east off the A134 at the Barton Hill junction Yes
Haverhill Homefield Road West, Haverhill, CB9 8QP Yes
Mildenhall Off the A1065, Mildenhall, IP28 7JQ, a mile north of the Fiveways roundabout No

There is no recycling centre in Newmarket or Brandon. Plasterboard is taken only at Haverhill, Lowestoft, Foxhall, Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds, so do not take it to Mildenhall.

Haverhill’s centre moved in August 2024. The county’s Haverhill page says the £2 million Homefield Road site opened on Thursday 8 August 2024 and the old Chalkstone Way centre closed for good two days earlier. If your satnav still sends you to Chalkstone Way, it is out of date.

Booking

The booking page says every visit to a Suffolk recycling centre needs a slot, and you can book more than once a week for household waste. You get an email confirmation; if it does not arrive within an hour, check your junk folder and do not book again. Email waste.management@suffolk.gov.uk instead.

Business and trade vehicles are limited to two appointments in any seven days.

What it costs

Household waste is free. DIY waste is not household waste even when it comes from your own home, but you can bring four 25-litre bags a visit, four visits in four weeks, free. Beyond that, from the county’s charges page:

Waste Charge
Hardcore, rubble, soil: up to ten 25-litre bags £2.06 per 25 litres (minimum £2)
Hardcore, rubble, soil: half transit van £25.76
Hardcore, rubble, soil: full transit van £51.52
Plasterboard: first three sheets £2.58 a sheet
Plasterboard: four or more sheets £5.15 a sheet
Toilet bowl, cistern or single sink £2.06 each

Card only, no cash. Landlords pay for all waste from a rental property. Paint is taken only as empty, dried tins, and tyres are not accepted at all.

The Bury re-use shop

The charity re-use shop at the Bury St Edmunds centre is run by The Benjamin Foundation and sells what people donate at all 11 Suffolk sites. According to Suffolk Recycling it is open every day, Wednesdays included:

  • Monday to Saturday, October to March: 9am to 4pm
  • Sunday, all year: 10am to 4pm
  • Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Christmas Eve hours are posted nearer the time.

No booking is needed to shop or to hand in donations at the shop itself. Phone 01284 335844.

Still to be confirmed

Christmas Eve hours at the re-use shop, which The Benjamin Foundation posts in December. The county lists no Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve closure for the centres, but it posts bad-weather and short-notice closures on its Suffolk Recycling Centres Facebook page, so check there before you set off.

For your household bins over the holidays, see our Christmas bin collections page and the everyday bin collection days page. Fornham Road is on the A134, so check our roadworks page before a big run.