The Wallsend Road tip opens 8am to 8pm every day except Christmas Day, by appointment only. Christmas hours, trees, DIY charges and what it won't take.
North Tyneside has one tip for the whole borough, the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Wallsend Road, North Shields. It opens 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, and the only day of the year it shuts is Christmas Day. You cannot just turn up: every visit needs a booked slot.
The quick answer
- Hours: 8am to 8pm every day except Christmas Day, so it is closed on Friday 25 December 2026 and open as normal on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
- Appointment only, for everyone, Blue Badge holders included. Book a slot here.
- Address: Wallsend Road, North Shields, NE29 7SH. No pedestrian access, card payments only, and no fridges or freezers at the moment.
Opening times, including Christmas
The council’s opening times page reads, in full: “The tip is open every day except Christmas Day. Monday to Sunday 8am to 8pm.” There is no separate winter timetable and no shorter Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve day listed.
| Day | 2026/27 date | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas Eve | Thursday 24 December | Open, 8am to 8pm |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Closed |
| Boxing Day | Saturday 26 December | Open, 8am to 8pm |
| Bank holiday | Monday 28 December | Open, 8am to 8pm |
| New Year’s Eve | Thursday 31 December | Open, 8am to 8pm |
| New Year’s Day | Friday 1 January 2027 | Open, 8am to 8pm |
The booking site adds that the site closes at 8pm and you must be off it by then, so an evening slot is not a licence to arrive at 7.55pm with a full car.
You must book, and bring proof of address
Everyone needs an appointment. The council kept the booking system from the pandemic because, in its words on the tip FAQs, it “improves safety on site and stops the backing up of traffic onto the roundabout outside the site at very busy times.” Blue Badge holders need a slot too; if your vehicle is over the size limits or you need help on site, the council names a contact, Paul Nelson, on 0345 2000 103.
Book on the council’s household waste booking site, which also issues the permits some vehicles need, vans included. On that site the council says:
- The site is for North Tyneside residents and household waste only.
- The person named on the permit must be in the vehicle, even if someone else drives.
- Staff can ask for proof of address and confirmation that the waste is from a North Tyneside home.
- There is no pedestrian access.
- Have your appointment date and time ready to show on arrival.
Vehicles not allowed on site at all (vehicle rules): anything over 2m high, over 6m long or over 3.5 tonnes, flat-bed vehicles, and trailers longer than 3m including the tow bar.
What it costs
Most household waste is free, garden waste from your own garden included. DIY waste is charged once you bring more than two 50 litre bags, or a single item bigger than 2m x 75cm x 70cm (charges at the tip):
| Load of DIY waste | Charge |
|---|---|
| A bag of loose material, or a sheet of plasterboard | £2 |
| A fully loaded hatchback or family car | £12 |
| Trailer under 1.5m | £20 |
| Trailer over 1.5m | £40, plus £10 for every 30cm up to 3m |
| Transit van full | £80 |
No cash is taken. Pay by debit, credit or prepaid card; the council says the charges are not negotiable. DIY waste means rubble, plasterboard, paving, pipes, soil and bricks from work you did yourself on your own home. If you paid someone to do the job, the waste is theirs, and a tradesperson cannot bring it in even with the householder in the van.
What the tip will not take right now
- Fridges and freezers. Suspended because of a national backlog at the specialist plants that treat them. The council gives no restart date, asks you to store the appliance at home, and says leaving it outside may count as fly-tipping (council notice). Ask the shop delivering your new one about take-back.
- Trade and landlord waste. Anything from a business, a landlord’s tenanted property, a developer or a paid tradesperson is refused. The commercial transfer station next door is the chargeable alternative.
Christmas trees, lights and wrapping
From the council’s recycling A to Z:
- Real trees can go to the tip, to a designated collection point, or be chopped up for the brown bin. The catch with the brown bin: garden waste is collected March to November only, and the council says there “will not be and have never been, collections over the Winter months” (garden waste FAQs). A January tree in the brown bin waits until March.
- Artificial trees are not recycled.
- Baubles and tinsel are not recycled; the council suggests a charity shop.
- Broken fairy lights go in the small electrical collection boxes around the borough, listed on the re-use and recycling map, which also shows the clothes and shoe banks, including one in the Co-op car park in Whitley Bay.
Still to be confirmed
The council has not yet said where its designated Christmas tree collection points will be for January 2027. We will check its pages in early December and add them here. For the bin day changes over the holidays (Friday 25 December collections move to Sunday 27 December, New Year’s Day to Saturday 2 January), see our Christmas bin collections page. Weekly bin rules, garden waste and bulky collections are on our bin days page. Check roadworks and travel before a big run, and parking in Whitley Bay if you are heading into town after.
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