12 Ways of Recycling this Christmas

Every week, millions of tonnes of household waste is dumped in landfill and Christmas is no exception. Boxes, batteries, fairy lights, you name it, it ends up in the ground where it will stay for decades. For Devon Waste Management, it is an excellent opportunity to do something good for the environment and our children, as Commercial Director Steve Hadley explains.

Let’s face it, we all do it. Christmas creates chaos and the easiest way to sort the mess is to dump the piles of wrapping paper, boxes and unfinished food into black bin liners ready for collection. We do it every year, but this time it could be different if we all plan ahead.

Devon Waste Management’s staff are proud to have helped Devon to become the best recycling county in England.

Our network of Household Waste Recycling Centres helped the county to achieve the top recycling rate for England in 2010-11 at 55 per cent.

Everyone who contributed deserves a pat on the back. However, we mustn’t let the good work stop there; we need to do even more if we want to remain the greenest place in the country next year. And doesn’t Devon deserve that accolade? Don’t we all want that for ourselves and our children?

Christmas traditionally is a time for giving and, sadly, a time for dumping. A mountain of materials that can potentially be reclaimed, recycled or re-used are lost to us every year but a simple trip to one of our recycling centres could change that this year. We have produced a simple guide to help you. Our “12 Ways of Reclaiming Christmas” guide offers plenty of tips on how you can plan ahead and minimise waste in the countdown to Christmas:

12 Ways of Recycling this Christmas

Day one: Christmas begins with your choice of Christmas tree. By choosing a real tree over the plastic alternatives, you can help the environment by taking it to one of our network of Household Waste Recycling Centres for shredding and composting. This ensures it goes back into the ground to nourish local farm fields.

Day two: Check your car battery and oil for winter to ensure you are prepared for any festive travelling. We can recycle spare batteries and engine oil at our centres.

Day three: Consider whether you really need to send Christmas cards or if an e-card or phone call could be an option. Any cards can be deposited at our recycling centres afterwards.

Day four: Bank Holidays often see festive magazines and newspaper supplements dropping through the letterbox. These can be recycled at your nearest centre.

Day five: After you have re-used any spare jars for pickled onions and chutneys to have on Boxing Day, bag them up for recycling at your nearest centre.

Day six: Christmas tree lights - if they’ve had their day, don’t bin them. These and other small electrical items are accepted at the recycling centres.

Day seven: With the dark winter nights upon us, consider switching to low-energy light bulbs and take any spent ones along to a centre to be recycled with fluorescent tubes.

Day eight: Many children’s toys require batteries. Don’t let them go to landfill. Take them to your nearest centre for recycling.

Day nine: Christmas is a busy time for food shoppers. Don’t forget to start saving your carrier bags now for re-use or recycle them via in-store facilities.

Day ten: Try saving money this Christmas by focusing on foods you know you will eat. Consider creating your own compost bin.

Day eleven: By now, you are likely to be hard at work wrapping gifts, many of them boxed. Plan ahead to ensure boxes are set aside for your trip to your local recycling centre.

Day twelve: The partying is underway. Make sure the fun doesn’t go to waste by taking your aluminium cans and glass bottles to your recycling centre.