The annual initiative, which takes place in January, has, to date, raised enough money for nearly 200,000 trees to be planted in the UK. The 2010 collection scheme alone funded 12,000 trees.
Announcing the final year of the scheme, which this year is endorsed by Hollywood actor Sean Bean, Paul Hetherington, director of Christmas card recycling at Woodland Trust, said: “Sadly, January 2011 will be the last ever scheme, which has achieved so much since it was first founded 14 years ago.”
“Back then the scheme was intended to help put press on government to introduce universal kerbside recycling, as well as to encourage millions of people in the UK to think about recycling cards after the festive season ends. Today, the UK enjoys universal kerbside recycling and we believe that the Trust has played a role in achieving that.”
One of the reasons the Woodland Trust is winding up the service is due to diminishing levels of card being placed in the bins for recycling. This is coupled with a decline in funding and the number of participating retailers. The scheme was previously supported by Defra and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) through its ‘Recycle Now' programme, with retailers such as Boots and Tesco having participated.
However, some in the sector are concerned that the end the scheme may cause confusion among members of the public and that card collected at the kerbside may not be as high quality as that collected in the tailor-made bins.
M&S
Responding to the Woodland Trust announcement, M&S stated that it will have to seek alternative means for helping to bolster its environmental credentials as part of its Plan A sustainability drive – which includes measures to reduce waste to landfill and expand the range of recycling services it offers customers.
A spokeswoman for M&S told letsrecycle.com: “We have a range of recycling services for our customers including the Oxfam Clothes Exchange and small electrical recycling. We're currently looking at an alternative for Christmas card recycling at our stores next year.”
M&S had stated in its Plan A progress report in May 2010 that, while it had rolled out collections for cards across many of its stores, offices and warehouses, that tonnages were on the wane – falling from 175 tonnes in 2009 to 153 tonnes in 2010. The 2010 figure roughly equates to 7.7 million cards.
Collection
This marks the fifth year that South Wales-based Severnside, which is part of paper company DS Smith and is also one of two waste contractors working with M&S, has partnered with the Woodland Trust for the scheme.
Cards are currently backhauled to regional distribution centres by retailers as part of their paper and cardboard recycling service. This material is then graded, baled and turned into new paper products, with Severnside taking the cards it handles to one of its sister company St Regis' paper mills.
Commenting on the ending of the scheme, Tim Price, national commercial manager at Severnside, told letsrecycle.com: “The scheme, which has been running for a number of years, has proved very successful in engaging consumers in the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra during the festive season.
“However in recent years the number of cards collected through the scheme has seen a steady decline – but conversely this has been for positive reasons. For example, kerbside recycling collections have made it far easier for households to recycle their Christmas leftovers.”
Mr Price said these factors indicated that consumers are now less reliant during Christmas on bringing their recycling to their supermarkets. But, he claimed, that the Woodland Trust and its retail partners had played their in helping the UK achieve a “more sustainable festive period”.
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