Christmas recycling

Give rubbish a new lease of life this Christmas - recycle!  

Approximately three million tonnes of household rubbish will be created by householders in Britain this Christmas and we should remember that for every one tonne of rubbish produced by householders, a further 15 tonnes has been created through manufacturing of the goods and extraction of raw materials.   

Other statistics provide equal testament to the scale of the problem.

This country could produce: 

• 83 square km of wrapping paper
• 150 million Christmas cards
• an extra 75 million bottles and glass containers this Christmas.    

Fortunately, the good news is that up to 60 per cent of household rubbish can be recycled or composted and in Derbyshire it’s getting easier all the time to do your bit. Here is how we can all help tackle the problem this Christmas. 

Christmas tree recycling

Contact your local district council who may offer special Christmas tree recycling facilities or you may be able to use your Green Waste bin for real Christmas trees. Find out more about recycling real Christmas trees.

Alternatively, pop along to your nearest household waste recycling centre and drop it off. It will be composted along with other garden waste.

Christmas Card Recycling

In January 2010 you can take your Christmas cards to all WHSmith, TK Maxx and Marks and Spencer stores for recycling. Funds raised via the scheme are used by the Woodland Trust to plant and maintain woodlands throughout the UK.

The cards themselves are recycled to make new paper products such as tissue and more card. In 2007 we recycled 20 tonnes in Derbyshire. 

Find out more about recycling cards and gift tags.

In addition to these specific schemes available to Derbyshire residents, there are numerous other steps you can take to reduce, reuse and recycle your rubbish at Christmas.    

Small electricals and mobile phone recycling

You may get new electrical items for Christmas this year. If your old items are no longer wanted or they are broken you can take them to your nearest household waste recycling centre to recycle.

Find out more about electrical waste and recycling.

New mobile phones remain a popular gift at Christmas. However many people are concerned about the impact that the disposal of millions of old phones may have on the environment.

Fortunately, there are ever more solutions available for you to ensure your old phone is reused or recycled.   

Increasingly, charity organisations such as Oxfam (opens in a new window) will arrange for or provide envelopes for you to send your phone, charger and accessories to re-processors and distributors.

Even better, some charities will accept the phones if you drop them at their store or shop. In addition, some supermarket chains will also arrange for the reuse or recycling of your old mobile. From there the phones will normally be sent for reuse in the developing world or key components will be recovered for recycling.

Shopping at Christmas

When you go to do your Christmas shop at the supermarket, make sure you remember to take all of your recycleing with you. If you have recycling boxes at home this will make it easier to transport.

In order to avoid buying items that you don't actually need:

• Plan your shopping trip carefully

• Write a list of the items needed

• Try to avoid shopping when you are hungry

Food waste

Try the shopping tips above to reduce the amount of food you waste.

Love food Hate Waste have portion calculators for parties and christmas dinner so you can easily calculate the amount of food that will be needed. This will reduce the need for throwing away food, which will reduce waste and save you money.

If you have any leftovers there are plenty of recipes on the Love Food Hate Waste website (opens in a new window) to create a  fantastic meal.

Top Tips

1. Keep your recycling bin next to the main bin so you can take out the rubbish and recycle at the same time.

2. Christmas may affect your local council's kerbside recycling scheme. To find your nearest recycling centre or learn more about your kerbside collection scheme over Christmas and New Year go to Recycle Now (opens in a new window) or visit your local district, borough or city council.

3. Cardboard packaging from presents can often be recycled through your local kerbside collection service orat your local Household Waste Recycling Centre. Remember scrunched up cardboard can also provide a useful supply of carbon and much needed air pockets inside your compost bin. Find out more about recycling cardboard.

4. Buy rechargeable batteries this year for all your childrens’ toys and electrical goods and save yourself pounds over the next year. You will also help save on the millions of batteries that go to landfill each year. Find out more about disposing of batteries.

5. Make use of your kerbside collection and/or local recycling centre and recycle all the jars, bottles and cans that you use over the festive period. Find out more about recycling glass.

6. Make a New Year’s resolution that you can keep this year – recycle more items, more often! Kerbside collections, local recycling centres and Household Waste Recycling Centres are making recycling even easier in Derbyshire so this year you have a good chance at sticking with it!

7. To make room for children's new toys take last year's to your local charity shop or contact your local play group/youth club to see if they could make use of them. Find out more about recycling children's toys.

8. If you need to make room for this season’s latest fashions, clear out your wardrobe and take unwanted clothes to your local charity shop or textile collection points in your area. Find out more about recycling clothes and textiles.

9. Create a talking point this Christmas with glasses made from recycled beer bottles, these and lots of other great recycled Christmas gift ideas can be found on the internet, for example Recycled Products (opens in a new window).

10. Christmas can increase the trouble some people have with receiving unwanted direct mail. Contact the Mailing Preference Service (opens in a new window) to reduce unwanted mail. 

11. If you are really struggling to find a gift for friends or family members this Christmas, how about making use of a scheme such as the Oxfam unwrapped (opens in a new window) project.
    
    Through this scheme, the recipient receives confirmation via a gift voucher that they have provided a useful gift for people in the developing world. For example, water for a community of 50 people. It’s a good idea and it creates no waste.
    
    A good way to reduce wrapping paper is to use furoshiki, a Japanese style of wrapping presents, with material which can then be reused. Watch the video on Recycle Now (opens in a new window).

12. When you are unwrapping presents on the big day, make sure you do this carefully, then you will be able to reuse the paper next year and save money in the process. Find out more about where to buy recycled wrapping paper on the WWF (opens in a new window) website.

13. Don't forget you can also recycle some of your packaging from your Christmas dinner. Cardboard, aluminium and glass can all be recycled and there are now recycling points for TetraPaks to be collected.

14. If you get any unwanted gifts, donate them to charity, give them away on sites like www.ilovefreegle.org (opens in a new window) or www.uk.freecycle.org (opens in a new window) or even swap them for someone else's unwanted gifts!