Most guides to the Chesham tip will tell you it is open 9am to 6pm. That is true — on the five days a week it opens at all. Chesham Recycling Centre is closed every Wednesday and Thursday, and has been for years, under the council’s own Waste Access and Acceptance Policy.
It is one of only four Buckinghamshire sites on a five-day service, alongside Burnham, Bledlow Ridge and Aylesbury’s Rabans Lane site. Every other centre in the county runs seven days. If you live in Chesham, Chesham Bois, Ley Hill, Bellingdon, Botley, Hyde Heath or Chartridge, that is the one fact worth having in your head before you load the car.
Here is the rest of it — the permits, the charges, what the site refuses, and where to go on the two days it is shut. Opening days, permit rules and charges are reviewed by the council (charges on 1 April each year), so confirm the current details on buckinghamshire.gov.uk before you load the car.
Is Chesham tip open on Wednesday?
No. Chesham Recycling Centre is closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays, every week. This is not a temporary arrangement or a seasonal variation — it is a standing five-day service set out in the council’s Waste Access and Acceptance Policy, which names Aylesbury (Rabans Lane), Bledlow, Burnham and Chesham as the four sites that close on those two days.
| Day | Summer (1 Apr – 30 Sep) | Winter (1 Oct – 31 Mar) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9am – 6pm | 9am – 4pm |
| Tuesday | 9am – 6pm | 9am – 4pm |
| Wednesday | Closed | Closed |
| Thursday | Closed | Closed |
| Friday | 9am – 6pm | 9am – 4pm |
| Saturday | 9am – 6pm | 9am – 4pm |
| Sunday | 9am – 6pm | 9am – 4pm |
The site is open on bank holidays except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day — so a bank holiday Monday is fine.
Where to go on a Wednesday or Thursday
Amersham Recycling Centre on London Road East (HP7 9DT) is the obvious substitute — it is a full seven-day site, it is the nearest centre to Chesham, and it takes the asbestos and trade waste that Chesham cannot. Bear in mind Amersham has only 6 unloading bays and serves a wide catchment, so a midweek morning is a far better bet than a weekend afternoon.
Where is Chesham Recycling Centre?
The site is on Latimer Road, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 1TL, on the road heading south-east out of the town towards Latimer and Chenies.
It serves the whole Chesham valley — Chesham itself, Chesham Bois, Ley Hill, Bellingdon, Chartridge, Hyde Heath and Botley. It sits close enough to the Hertfordshire border that people from Bovingdon, Ashley Green and Berkhamsted sometimes assume they can use it. They can, but they will pay the non-resident access fee, which starts at £28.80 and runs to £472.70 for a large van of general waste.
There is no pedestrian access without a walk-in permit.
Do I need a permit for Chesham tip?
Not for a car. You need proof of a Buckinghamshire address — a driving licence or Council Tax bill — and that is it. There is no booking system.
You need a free permit if you are:
- Arriving in a van, truck or minibus — vehicle permit, valid 31 days, renewable to 90
- Bringing DIY waste — valid for one visit within 7 days, then you can reapply
- Entering on foot — walk-in permit, 31 days, renewable to 90
There is no asbestos permit option here, because Chesham does not accept asbestos at all. Permits arrive as a QR code by email and need a My Buckinghamshire account — and if you last used the permit service before 16 September 2025, you will need to create a new account before you can apply. Apply a few days ahead rather than on the day.
If more than one permit applies — a van carrying DIY waste, say — you get two permits and must show both at the gate.
What Chesham will not take
Chesham is one of the county’s smaller, restricted sites. Two categories are refused here that a full-service site would accept:
- Asbestos — not accepted. The nearest site that takes it is Amersham. Only six sites in the county are licensed: Amersham, Aston Clinton, Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, High Wycombe and Langley.
- Business, trade and charity waste — not accepted, no commercial waste allowed on site at all. The nearest option is again Amersham, which takes trade waste Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
On top of that, the county-wide refusals apply:
- Dead animals, carcasses and faeces
- Large quantities of animal bedding (1 to 2 bags a week from small domestic pets, double bagged)
- Materials presenting a direct contact risk
- Tree trunks and branches thicker than 20cm or longer than 2m
- Flammables and explosives, such as fireworks or ammunition
- Storage heaters containing asbestos — anything pre-1980, or models with SR at the end of the model number
The 20cm-thick, 2m-long limit on tree trunks and branches bites hard in this catchment. The Chesham valley has a lot of mature gardens with old fruit trees and overgrown boundaries, and a felled trunk simply will not go in — whatever you do to it first.
What you can take to Chesham for free
Despite the restrictions, Chesham handles the full range of ordinary household recycling at no charge, provided you can show a Buckinghamshire address. That covers garden waste, cardboard, paper, wood, metal, electricals, glass, plastics, batteries, textiles, mattresses and furniture.
Two of those are worth calling out for this catchment. Garden waste is free at the tip all year round — including during the six-week winter suspension of the kerbside garden service, which runs from 12 December 2026 to 24 January 2027. If you are a £65-a-year garden waste subscriber, that blackout is the period when the tip becomes your only free option.
Mattresses and furniture are also free here, which is materially cheaper than the council’s own bulky collection — that charges £65 for a band of one to three items, so a single mattress costs the full £65. If you can physically get it into a car and it is not a Wednesday or Thursday, the tip is the cheaper route by a wide margin.
If you cannot find an item on the council’s list, its Waste Wizard tool will tell you where it goes. Hazardous household waste has annual caps set to reflect normal domestic use: 4 fluorescent tubes, 2 car batteries, 10 litres of engine oil, 5 litres of chemicals and 2 LPG cylinders.
Using Chesham from outside Buckinghamshire
Chesham sits close to the Hertfordshire border, and it is a common assumption in Bovingdon, Ashley Green, Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead that it is simply the nearest tip. It may well be — but non-residents pay a per-visit access fee, and it is not trivial:
| Vehicle | Garden waste | Mixed recycling | General waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small car (Fiesta, Corsa) | £28.80 | £33.40 | £37.40 |
| Medium car (Kuga, Sportage) | £65.60 | £75.50 | £99.20 |
| Large car, SUV or small van | £124.80 | £145.10 | £236.40 |
| Large van (Transit, Sprinter) | £187.10 | £217.70 | £472.70 |
All prices include VAT, DIY charges are additional, and cash is not accepted — card only. Slough residents are exempt from these fees under a cross-border agreement with Buckinghamshire; there is no equivalent exemption for Hertfordshire residents.
For anyone in Hemel Hempstead, Chorleywood or Rickmansworth, your own county’s sites will be free, and a collection is usually cheaper than a large-vehicle access fee here before fuel is counted.
What does DIY waste cost?
Household waste is free. DIY waste is not household waste — it is anything produced by work on your home or garden, and once you exceed the free allowance that comes with a DIY permit, it is charged per item:
| Price | Typical items |
|---|---|
| £4.20 | Rubble, bricks, concrete, soil, roof tiles, sand or stones per 25-litre bag · paving slab · turf · fence panel or post · decking · laminate or floorboards · shed panel · internal door · loft insulation · roofing felt · guttering · radiator |
| £8.30 | Kitchen unit · toilet pan · toilet cistern · bidet · bath and panel · bathroom sink and pedestal · fitted bathroom cabinets |
| £12.50 | Kitchen worktop |
| £16.60 | Window · external door · shower tray · shower screen · fireplace · storage heater · wood burner |
| £25.20 | Whole shed (up to 2m × 2m) |
| £29.40 | Boiler |
Items not on the published list are priced by site staff, and their decision is final. Plasterboard is restricted and must be stripped of tiles and wood first.
Two closed days plus a per-item charge
The combination is what pushes people towards a collection here. A shed demolition is £25.20 for the structure plus £4.20 a panel for anything over, it needs a vehicle the site will actually admit, and you can only go on five days of the week. A single collection takes the lot, any day, and does the dismantling.
Vehicles that are refused entry
Even with a valid permit, these are turned away at the gate:
- Vehicles with more than 4 wheels
- Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes
- Trailers larger than 2.4m long × 1.8m wide, up to 60cm high with a cover, excluding the tow bar
- Vehicles with tippers or tail lifts
- Tractors or horseboxes
The tipper and tail-lift ban is the one that most often ruins a Saturday. If the only van you can borrow has a tail lift — which is exactly the vehicle you would want for a heavy load — you cannot bring it, and there is no appeal. Site staff turn you away.
When the tip is not the answer
For a boot of cardboard and garden clippings on a Saturday morning, Chesham is free and hard to beat. It stops working when any of the following is true:
- It is Wednesday or Thursday. The site is shut and Amersham is the fallback.
- You have asbestos or trade waste. Neither is accepted here at all.
- It is a large DIY load. Per-item charges mount quickly, and multiple trips are needed.
- You cannot lift it, or it will not fit in a car. There is no help loading at the tip.
The council’s own bulky waste collection is the obvious alternative, but it has real limits: £65 for 1–3 items, £130 for 4–6, £195 for 7–9, a nine-item ceiling, no discounts or exemptions, everything at your boundary by 6am, and the crew cannot enter your property or handle steps. One mattress costs the full £65 band. It also takes no DIY or building waste at all.
A man-and-van collection from £95 runs seven days a week, takes the builders’ and DIY waste the council refuses, and collects from wherever the item actually sits rather than from the kerb.
Chesham Recycling Centre FAQs
What days is Chesham tip closed?
Wednesday and Thursday, every week. It is one of four Buckinghamshire sites on a five-day service, along with Burnham, Bledlow Ridge and Aylesbury (Rabans Lane). It is also closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
What time does Chesham tip close?
6pm in summer (1 April to 30 September) and 4pm in winter (1 October to 31 March). Last entry can be earlier than the published closing time when the site is busy.
Where is Chesham Recycling Centre?
Latimer Road, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 1TL.
Do I need to book at Chesham tip?
No. Buckinghamshire has no booking system at any of its recycling centres. You need proof of a Buckinghamshire address, plus a permit if you are in a van, on foot, or bringing DIY waste.
Does Chesham tip take asbestos?
No. Chesham is not licensed for asbestos. The nearest site that accepts it is Amersham, where it costs £5.80 per square metre and needs an asbestos permit.
Can I take business waste to Chesham?
No. No business or commercial waste is allowed on site. The nearest site that accepts trade waste is Amersham, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, on a chargeable basis.
Is Chesham tip free?
Free for household waste with proof of a Buckinghamshire address. DIY waste beyond the free permit allowance is charged per item from £4.20 to £29.40, and non-residents pay an access fee starting at £28.80.
Shut on a Wednesday? We are not.
Seven-day collection across Chesham, Chesham Bois, Ley Hill and Amersham. We take the DIY and builders’ waste the tip charges for and the council will not touch. From £95.