Hillingdon Tip Opening Times: Harefield 8am to 4pm Daily

Harefield Civic Amenity Site, the borough’s main tip, is open from 8am to 4pm seven days a week, with last entry for residents at 3.45pm. It closes on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The smaller West Drayton site opens at weekends only and is due to close on 21 December: on 24 September Full Council voted down, by 30 votes to 19, a motion asking the Cabinet to pause the closure. (Hillingdon Council)

The quick answer

• Harefield, New Years Green Lane, UB9 6LX: 8am to 4pm daily, last entry 3.45pm. No booking. Closed 25 and 26 December and 1 January.
• West Drayton, Tavistock Road, UB7 7QT: Saturday and Sunday 9am to 4pm, cars only, closed on bank holidays. Due to close on 21 December 2026; a motion to pause the closure was lost on 24 September.
• Space Waye, Feltham, TW14 0TH: 8am to 3.30pm daily, but you must book for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays.

Harefield recycling centre opening times

Harefield Civic Amenity Site, the tip most people mean by “Harefield dump” or “Hillingdon tip”, is on New Years Green Lane, Harefield, UB9 6LX. We re-read every line of the council’s pages for it on 4 October 2026. (Hillingdon Council)

The council’s rules for getting in:

• Do not arrive before 7.45am: you will not be let in.
• Cars: bring a HillingdonFirst card, or a driving licence and a household bill. Staff check proof of address as the queue moves.
• Vans: two forms of ID, a photo ID and a household bill from the last three months, and a limit of 12 visits a year. A van with ID in someone else’s name can be turned away.
• No pedestrians. You cannot walk waste in.
• Non-residents in a car pay £11 a visit, via the van and trade entrance; non-residents in a van pay trade prices.
• Do not turn right into New Years Green Lane from Harvil Road; join the back of the queue coming down from Harefield.

The queue is the real cost. The council’s own page says that at the busiest times queues “can average around an hour and half”, tells residents to avoid 11am to midday and the last half hour, and says Wednesdays and Thursdays tend to be quieter.

It takes almost all household waste, including garden waste, rubble, mattresses, sofas, carpets, wood, electricals, paint that has been hardened, vapes, lithium batteries and coffee pods. It does not take gas cylinders, fire extinguishers or asbestos. The council offers a free asbestos collection of up to six sheets or bags a year instead. There is a reuse centre on the right after the barriers, where you can leave good furniture or take something for a donation. (Hillingdon Council)

Site rules that catch people out

The council’s site rules are stricter than most tips’, and staff can send you away for breaking them:

• No mobile phones on site, and no earbuds or headphones. You may be asked to leave if seen using a phone.
• Reverse into the bays, keep to 5mph and turn your engine off while you wait.
• Children under 16 and animals stay in the vehicle the whole time.
• No smoking or vaping on site, including inside your car.
• Wear shoes that enclose your feet.

What else Harefield takes, and what it refuses

The items list has a few things worth knowing before you load up:

• Helium canisters are accepted, but hand them to a member of staff. Every other gas cylinder is refused, including fire extinguishers, beer barrels and oxygen tanks: take Calor cylinders back to a Calor supplier.
• Mobility aids such as crutches, walking sticks and walking frames are collected for reuse by the NHS.
• Paint must be hardened first: add paint hardener, sawdust, sand or soil and leave the lid off until it is solid.
• Empty fridges and freezers of food, or the unit may be rejected. The fridge and freezer service for traders is suspended until further notice; residents can still bring them.
• The reuse centre takes furniture, toys, storage and similar household items, but not textiles or electricals, because it cannot test them.

Roadworks from 5 October

From Monday 5 October, highway works start on New Years Green Lane for about ten weeks, with diversions and traffic management. The council says the site stays open throughout but journeys will take longer. Ten weeks from 5 October runs to mid-December, right up to the Christmas clear-out. Our Uxbridge roadworks and travel page tracks the works.

West Drayton waste weekends

Railway Sidings, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, UB7 7QT. (Hillingdon Council)

Free for Hillingdon residents with a HillingdonFirst card or a driving licence and household bill. No vans or commercial vehicles and no trade waste. Staff put each car in the next free bay, so be ready to carry your load to the right skip, and they will not help unload. It takes plasterboard and rubble as well as the usual recycling, but not asbestos.

The closure. The site is due to shut on Monday 21 December 2026. At Full Council on Thursday 24 September a motion moved by Councillor Sweeting asked the Cabinet to pause the closure, review it and consult; it was lost by 30 votes to 19 in a recorded vote, according to the council’s draft minutes. Councillors opposing the motion said the change would save around £300,000, that residents keep access to Space Waye seven days a week, and that the rotating pop-up waste drops will become a permanent arrangement. The council’s own page for the site still carries no closure notice. As it only opens at weekends, 21 December would make Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December its last two opening days. Our report on the West Drayton tip closure motion has the detail, including the 6,594-signature petition.

Space Waye, Feltham

Space Waye Reuse and Recycling Centre, North Feltham Trading Estate, Pier Road (off Faggs Road), Feltham, TW14 0TH, run jointly with Hounslow Council. (Hillingdon Council)

Slots can be booked up to two weeks ahead with your address and car registration (enter HIRE for a hire car). Bring proof of your Hillingdon address. For many households in Hayes, Harlington and West Drayton this is nearer than Harefield. Its Christmas closing days for 2026 have not been published.

Free pop-up drops this autumn

The council’s Pop-up Waste Drop runs from 10am to 2pm, free, for Hillingdon residents in cars, on four Saturdays (Hillingdon Council):

• 10 October: The Closes car park, Church Close, West Drayton UB7 7PY
• 24 October: Brookside Open Space car park, Brookside Road, Hayes UB4 0PL
• 7 November: Haste Hill car park, The Drive, Northwood HA6 1HN

(The first, at Deane Park in South Ruislip, is on 26 September.) They take furniture, mattresses, bagged carpet, small electricals, scrap metal, wood, glass, textiles and garden furniture. They do not take general rubbish, mixed recycling, garden waste, hazardous waste, tyres or car parts, gas canisters or business waste. No vans.

Over Christmas

• Harefield: closed Friday 25 December, Saturday 26 December and Friday 1 January. The council’s page names Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. This year the Boxing Day bank holiday itself falls on Monday 28 December, and the page does not say whether Harefield opens that day, so check before you set off.
• West Drayton: closed on bank holidays, and due to have closed for good by then.
• Space Waye: booking needed on the bank holidays; its Christmas closures are not yet published.

Household collection changes over Christmas are on our Hillingdon Christmas bin collections page, and garden waste sack collections stop from 21 December to 3 January.

Still to be confirmed

• Harefield’s hours on Monday 28 December and Space Waye’s Christmas closures.
• The dates of the pop-up drops after 7 November. Councillors said on 24 September that the pop-ups will become permanent, but no further dates are published yet.

Sources

• Waste and recycling centres, Hillingdon Council, including the Harefield opening hours, access rules and accepted items, West Drayton waste weekends and Space Waye, checked 25 September and 4 October 2026
• Pop-up Waste Drop, Hillingdon Council
• Council meeting and draft minutes, 24 September 2026, motion 8.1, Hillingdon Council
• UK bank holidays, GOV.UK

Harefield tip: common questions

What time does Harefield tip open? 8am, every day of the week. Do not arrive before 7.45am: the council says you will not be let in.

What time does Harefield tip close? 4pm, with last entry for residents at 3.45pm. If you are paying at the weighbridge, arrive before 3.35pm.

Do I need to book Harefield tip? No. Bring a HillingdonFirst card, or a driving licence and a household bill, if you come by car. Vans need a photo ID and a household bill from the last three months.

When is Harefield tip quietest? Wednesdays and Thursdays, according to the council. Avoid 11am to midday and the last half hour, when queues can average an hour and a half.

Is West Drayton tip closing? Yes, on 21 December 2026 unless the Cabinet changes course. Council voted down a motion to pause the closure on 24 September.