Harlow Recycling Centre on Temple Bank opens 9am to 4pm daily from 16 October, shuts at 1pm on Christmas Eve and needs a free booked slot for every car visit.

Harlow Recycling Centre, the tip on Temple Bank, is open every day from 9am. On 16 October it switches to winter hours and closes at 4pm instead of 5pm, and it stays on those hours until the end of February.

You cannot just turn up in a car. Every visit needs a free booked slot, and that catches people out more than the hours do.

The quick answer

  • Winter hours: 9am to 4pm every day, 16 October to the end of February. Summer hours (1 March to 15 October) are 9am to 5pm.
  • Christmas: closed at 1pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and all day on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
  • Book a free slot for every visit by car or van. Blue Badge holders, pedestrians and cyclists do not need one.

All of this comes from Essex County Council’s Harlow Recycling Centre page on Love Essex, checked on 25 September 2026. The tip is run by the county council, not Harlow Council.

Opening times

Period Hours
1 March to 15 October 9am to 5pm, every day
16 October to end of February 9am to 4pm, every day
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve Closes at 1pm
Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day Closed

This year Boxing Day is a Saturday, and the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. The county’s page says the tip is closed on “Boxing Day” without saying which of the two it means, so check before you go on the 28th.

The county also warns that you may be turned away if you arrive too close to closing time, and asks people not to queue before opening because it blocks the lorries that swap full containers for empty ones (site rules).

Booking a slot

Booking is free but you need a new booking for each visit. There are two booking links, one for cars and one for vans, pick-ups and large trailers, both on the Harlow Recycling Centre page. If you cannot book online, Essex County Council takes bookings on 0345 743 0430, 8.30am to 5pm.

  • Bring the confirmation email and proof of address, such as a council tax bill or driving licence. Staff may ask for both.
  • Hire vehicle? Bring the hire agreement too.
  • Engine off while you queue and before you show your booking.
  • The county can cancel multiple bookings in a seven-day period that it considers excessive.

Who can use it

You must live in the Essex County Council area, which covers all of Harlow. Under a reciprocal arrangement with Hertfordshire, nearby Hertfordshire residents can currently use the Harlow site too. It does not work the other way round without paperwork: an Essex resident who wants to use a Hertfordshire tip needs a free annual permit.

Vans, trailers and DIY waste

Harlow is one of the larger Essex sites that accepts vans, pick-ups and trailers with more than one axle, as long as you book the van slot (what counts as a van). Anything of 3.5 tonnes or more, tipping flatbeds, horse boxes and agricultural vehicles are not accepted at any Essex tip.

Harlow also takes limited DIY waste, if the work is on your own home and you did it yourself. Per visit the limits are (DIY waste):

Material Limit per visit
Soil, rubble, plasterboard 3 wheelbarrow loads (or 1 car boot)
Tiles 1 wheelbarrow load
Toilets, basins and other large ceramics 3 items
Window frame 1
Internal wooden doors 3
External door 1
Built-in kitchen 1 element

Trade and commercial waste and hazardous waste are not accepted at any Essex recycling centre. Small amounts of household and garden chemicals are, handed to staff. There is also a donation point at Harlow for large electrical appliances, which go to the Lighthouse Furniture Project for repair and reuse.

At Christmas

Garden waste is on the list of what Essex tips accept, but for a real Christmas tree most households will find it easier to use the council’s January tree collection, which costs £2.90 a tree or is free with the garden waste subscription. The details, and what changes to your bin days, are on our Harlow Christmas bin collections page. Normal bin days are on Harlow bin collection days.

There are no public toilets at Essex recycling centres, and children and pets have to stay in the car.