Scarborough Borough Council

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Christmas recycling and collections

19 December

The countdown to Christmas has started, and Scarborough Borough Council's Recycling team is encouraging everyone to keep the party going by remembering to recycle over the festive period.

We are recycling more at home than ever before, as for three-quarters of us recycling is now a way of life. And the great news is the recycling rate for the borough now stands at 41%.

Christmas is a time for entertaining and Scarborough Borough Council is helping residents to recycle extra plastic bottles, tubs, pots and trays, metal cans, cartons, cardboard packaging and paper, by keeping collections going during the holiday season.

13,350 tonnes of glass is thrown out in the UK during the festive season – from champagne and sherry bottles to mincemeat and cranberry sauce jars. Recycling all of them could save 4,200 tonnes of CO2 being produced, which is equivalent to taking around 1,300 cars off the road for one year!  So remember to recycle all of your glass bottles and jars in your nearest glass bank

An estimated 500 tonnes of Christmas tree lights are discarded in the UK over the Christmas period. If they are in good working order, you could think about donating them to charity.  Even lights that are beyond repair can be recycled!  A free collection of lights or any other electrical item(s) can be booked online.

Residents should have had a collection calendar through their doors letting them know when rubbish collections will be over the festive period but the revised collection dates can also be seen below:

Recycling top tips in the run up to Christmas...

• If you have space, keep your recycling bin next to the main bin not only during the festive season, but all year round, so you can take out the rubbish and recycle at the same time.
• Get the kids involved in the household recycling routine while they’re off during the Christmas holidays. It’s a great educational activity.
• When you go to do your big Christmas shop, take any recycling which you can’t recycle at home with you to your local supermarket recycling banks.
• Look out for presents made from recycled material this Christmas.  A growing range of clothes, furniture and even electronic goods contain recycled material and will make perfect ‘green’ gifts this Christmas.
• Look out for gifts with packaging that can be reused.  Gift bags can be reused again and again. And presents which come in tins or plastics containers can be used over and over again for storage at home.

and over the festive period...

• A whole range of jars - from cranberry sauce to mincemeat and baby food can all be recycled, just give them a rinse in your leftover washing up water and recycle them with your other glass. Don’t worry about removing labels; they will come off in the recycling process.
• If you’re having visitors to stay this Christmas, let them know where your recycling bins are and what goes in them.
• Remember there are lots of unexpected Christmas items you can recycle or even reuse like sweet tins and mincemeat jars.
• The wire ties that often accompany gift packaging are not generally recyclable, so they could be kept aside and reused as garden ties.