But the Environment Agency has gone one further and reminded the public that recycling is for life and not just for Christmas. The Agency is hoping that people will make a fresh start to the year by cutting down on what they throw away and put “waste” material to good use.
The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has told the public to “do their bit” this Christmas by reusing and recycling their waste and reducing the UK’s festive waste mountain. DEFRA has predicted that traditional seasonal activities in Britain create over three million tonnes of waste and that even though more than half of this could be recycled, almost 90% will be thrown away.
Environment Minister Michael Meacher said: “Making more productive use of resources is essential for the future health of our environment, businesses and society. As a nation, we have to minimise the amount of waste that we produce and get as much value as possible out of what is left by re-use and recycling. If we all stop to think about alternatives to the dustbin this Christmas, we could really make a difference to the UK’s waste mountain.”
The government estimates that refuse bins could contain one billion Christmas cards (17 for each person), six million Christmas trees, 4,200 tonnes of aluminium foil, 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging, 80,000 tonnes of old clothes and other waste textiles and 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper.
Overloading
The government says that everyone can “do their bit” for the environment by taking their recyclables to recycling banks when going shopping to save time, minimise transport costs and to avoid overloading the banks at peak times.
The government is also encouraging the public to recycle their Christmas cards at recycling bins in WHSmith and Tesco. And this year more than 250 councils are offering Christmas tree recycling facilities as part of a scheme co-ordinated by national environmental campaigns charity ENCAMS.
Lancashire County Council is also urging people to reduce their waste and has produced five tips to reduce waste without becoming a “Scrooge”. These include buying in bulk or items with less packaging, buying a reusable shopping bag and using rechargeable batteries for toys and other gifts.
County Councillor Brian Johnson, cabinet member for community and regeneration, said: “It is important for people to realise that they can reduce their rubbish by shopping sensibly. All too often at Christmas people buy more than they need and end up throwing away a lot of stuff, so by shopping sensibly we can all help the environment and maybe save ourselves money.”
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