Have a Merry ‘green’ Christmas say Council

City of York Council’s Recycling Team is helping residents to have a ‘green’ Christmas this year by providing festive dos and don’ts to make it even easier to recycle and re-use Christmas waste.

Greetings cards, wrapping paper and crackers are just some of the items that can be recycled through the council’s household waste and recycling collections.

Councillor Andrew Waller, executive member for environment, said: “Christmas is a time of great joy and celebration for most people, but it’s also a time when we create lots of extra waste.

“Just giving a bit of ‘One Planet’ thought to how we can recycle, re-use and compost Christmas waste can make a huge difference to the amount we throw away.

“Re-using items such as wrapping paper and gift bags can also be a great way to help keep costs down next Christmas.”

Festive ‘dos’ to recycle include:

  • Greetings cards
  • Wrapping paper (non foil)
  • Cardboard
  • Crackers (remove all the embellishments, such as bows, first)
  • Bottles
  • Tins

Real Christmas trees and wreaths (with tinsel and decorations removed) can be recycled at Hazel Court or Towthorpe Waste Household Recycling Centres. Lots of food waste can be composted and re-used in the garden. Visit www.getcomposting.com for more information.

Festive don’ts to recycle:

  • Heavily glittered items
  • Tinsel
  • Foil wrapping paper
  • Plastic Christmas trees and wreaths

For some tasty recipes on using up festive leftovers and hints on how to reduce food waste visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Residents can check their recycling collection days using:

the  calendar which the council distributed to households across the city in October and November

online at www.york.gov.uk/refuselookup

get free alerts to smartphones or tablets by downloading the OnePlanetYork app from itunes or google playstore.

The city’s household waste centres are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s day (with Towthorpe also closed on Wednesdays).  To check what can go in your recycling boxes, visit www.york.gov.uk/waste

For more information on festive waste and recycling visit www.york.gov.uk/festivereycling

Extra waste collections over the Christmas period

All households will get extra household waste collections (grey bins/black sacks) during weeks commencing 18 December 2017 and 2 January 2018… Put your waste out by 7.00am for collection! click  CHECK YOUR COLLECTION DAY/DATES: WWW.YORK.GOV.UK/REFUSELOOKUP