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Christmas recycling – an easy guide

IT’S a question that will plague hundreds of households this afternoon – can I recycle my Christmas crackers?

Fortunately, recycling firm Biffa has come up with a handy guide to help sort out the landfill from the recycling.

Steve Oulds, the firm’s national commercial manager, said: “We know it can often be tricky working out what should go into our recycling bins, especially at Christmas when there is lots of extra waste – Biffa recycling centres receive about 40% more material than usual during the first two weeks of January, including a lot of things that can’t actually be recycled.

“Our simple guide of what to do with typical festive waste will help people have a greener Christmas this year and our number one tip is: always double check packaging to see if it can be recycled.”

Biffa’s guide to Christmas recycling:  

  1. CHRISTMAS CARDS: Simple Christmas cards are recyclable – but those with embellishments such as glitter and plastic are not, so need to go in the general waste. 
  2. WRAPPING PAPER: Not all wrapping paper is recyclable. If it has glitter or finishing effects like gloss it isn’t. A good test to tell if it is recyclable is to scrunch it in a ball – if it doesn’t stay scrunched after opening your hand, it cannot be recycled. 
  3. POLYSTYRENE: While cardboard and paper packaging can usually be recycled, polystyrene, which is often used to protects toys and presents, cannot. 
  4. BUBBLE WRAP: Unfortunately, because bubble wrap is made of complex plastic, it cannot go in the recycling bin. 
  5. ELECTRICS: If you are replacing tree lights this year, please do not put the old ones in the recycling – for electric goods to be recycled, they need to be sent to specialist electrical recycling centres.
  6. CRACKERS: Crackers can be recycled if they are made from simple card – any decorations and contents should be removed before the rest is recycled.
  7. FOOD WASTE:  If you have a food waste bin, all unwanted food at Christmas such as turkey carcasses, vegetables or stale mince pies can be put in these.
  8. CHRISTMAS TREES: Christmas trees can be recycled – but not in your household recycling. Make sure you find out the right place to send your tree, or the date your council collects them where you live.

Read more stories on Scottish Field’s news pages.

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