Last Christmas: I gave you recycling tips

Most people in the UK recycle. In fact, we’re recycling more than ever - twice as much as we did 15 years ago! But when it comes to what time of year we’re most aware of our recycling, it turns out Christmas tops the charts.

‘Tis the season to recycle in Buckinghamshire

With last Christmas falling in the wake of BBC’s Blue Planet II series, twinned with the amount of wrapping paper, cards, decorations and delivery packaging around the home during the holidays; it’s easy to see why so many people are looking to dispose of items in the most sustainable way.

During the festive period many of us have more stuff in our houses than any other time – so it’s important to continue to protect the environment by recycling as much as possible. We want to make recycling easier at Christmas, and at any other time of year, so anybody who’s not sure how to recycle an item can visit the waste wizard and learn more about recycling where they live.”

Buckinghamshire Recycles top tips for recycling at Christmas:

• Wrapping paper can be recycled if it passes the scrunch test – if you can scrunch it and it stays in a ball without springing back, it can be recycled. If it doesn’t stay in a ball it can’t be recycled. This is because some metallic-looking paper is actually lined with plastic and cannot be recycled.
• Glitter cannot be recycled – so make sure glittery paper goes in the general rubbish bin; or you could avoid buying it in the first place to be kinder to the environment.
• Try to remove as much sticky tape from the wrapping paper before recycling to make it easier to recycle.
• Remember to rip off any glittery sections and embellishments on cards (like ribbons) before recycling those too.
• If you order anything online ready for Christmas, it's likely your items will be delivered in boxes or envelopes made from corrugated cardboard. This can be recycled – just remember to remove any polystyrene packing and remove as much sticky tape as possible.