Recycle for Merseyside and Halton

Recycle For Merseyside this Christmas - 9 Dec 2010

Merseyside residents are being asked to give an extra gift this Christmas.

As well as presents for family and friends, local recycling officers are asking householders to give a gift to the environment – namely, remembering to recycle as much as they can over the next few weeks.

Carl Beer, Director of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, said: “With all that’s going on at this time of year it’s understandable that recycling can slip down your list of things to do.

However, with the extra amount of waste created it’s also a great opportunity to boost recycling – there are so many bottles and cans, so much paper and cardboard, that people have got the chance to be especially pleased with their efforts.”

MWDA has put together the following tips so people can be kinder to the environment this festive period:

In the run up to Christmas –

- Why not look out for items containing recycled material as gifts? A growing range of clothes, furniture and even electronic goods containing some recycled material will make perfect ‘green’ gifts.

- A good way to reduce wrapping waste is to use ‘furoshiki’ – a Japanese-style of wrapping presents with material which can then be reused. Watch the video on www.recyclenow.com.

- Look out for gifts with packaging that can be reused or recycled easily. Gift bags can be reused again and again. Some retailers are packaging goods in tins or plastic containers that can be used again for food storage at home or recycled.

Over the festive period –

- A whole range of jars – from cranberry and mint sauce to mincemeat and baby food – can all be recycled: just give them a rinse in your leftover dish-washing water and they’ll be ready to recycle with other glass. Don’t worry about removing labels, they will come off in the recycling process.

- If you’re having visitors over Christmas, you could let your guests know where your recycling bins are and what goes in them.

- The wire ties that often accompany gift packaging are not generally recyclable, so they could be kept aside and reused as garden ties.

When the festivities are over –

- Visit your local Household Waste Recycling Centre where you can drop off your Christmas tree, not to mention a range of other items including glass bottles and jars, plus wrapping paper, cards and cardboard – all in one place!

- You can always give some of your Christmas cards a new lease of life by cutting them up to make gift tags for next year – saving you money and shopping time.

- Make a resolution to do reduce the waste you create, reuse as much as you can and recycle whatever’s left.

Councillor Kevin Cluskey, Chairperson of MWDA, said: “Even following just a couple of these tips people can save money, time and resources.”

ENDS