Christmas clear-up is a great recycling opportunity

It’s this time of year – when the decorations have come down, the chocolates are finished and the kids are back at school – that Buckinghamshire households produce the greatest amount of waste. Fortunately, the majority of this waste can easily be recycled at home. All cardboard, Christmas cards, drinks bottles, sauce jars, sweet tubs and clean tin foil can be recycled across all homes in Buckinghamshire.

It is estimated that 60,000 homes in Buckinghamshire will have had real Christmas trees this year – if laid end to end they would stretch from Buckingham to Birmingham… and back again. Luckily, we don’t have to lay them end to end – we just compost them instead!

Once the tinsel, baubles and lights have been taken off, there are a number of ways to give your naked real Christmas tree a new lease of life. All ten household recycling centres will accept real Christmas trees; they can then be composted along with other garden waste. The sites are open every day from 9am-4pm during the winter months.

All local councils in Buckinghamshire will also collect chopped up real Christmas trees in the garden collection services for composting. Alternatively, once it’s chopped up, the tree can go into the home composting.

Chairman of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire Councillor Sir Beville Stanier said: “This is a great opportunity get the New Year off to a good start by recycling as much as you can – and giving your Christmas tree a new lease of life.”