Christmas is coming, and in these final few weeks before the holiday season really begins, there’s just enough time left for a proper clear-out to make room for all the guests and gifts you might be welcoming, or just to go into the new year in tidier surroundings.
Here are five things you might want to recycle in the run-up to Christmas, clearing the way for whatever festivities lie ahead for you and those close to you.
- Paper
Depending on how much waste paper you produce, it might not always seem like a priority to have it collected for recycling, but Christmas is likely to be an exception.
With packaging from mail order deliveries, wrapping paper, old Christmas cards and assembly instructions that are no longer needed – not to mention clean food and drink containers – there’s a mountain of paper and cardboard waste over the festive period.
Get your paper waste collected before the main part of the season starts and you’ll have plenty of space to collect all the new paper waste that’s coming your way, for disposal in the new year.
- Plastic
An even more universal packaging material than paper, plastic waste comes from food containers, product packaging and empty drinks bottles, among other sources.
Make sure to recycle in accordance with the type of plastic each item is made out of, and you never know, this year’s pop bottles could be next year’s Christmas decorations.
- Glass
Get your glass collected before guests start arriving, because those empty wine bottles will soon start to mount up, not to mention jars of condiments, sauces and other foods.
Unlike plastic and paper, it’s hard to crush glass down to make more space, so be certain you’ve got enough room in your bin or skip to last through to your first post-Christmas collection.
- Metal
Metallic waste can soon start to mount up as food and drink cans are thrown out, and although you can crush empty drinks cans, anything more sturdy than that quickly becomes a pain to try and squash down.
Again, getting your metal waste collected before the Christmas season starts leaves you with the most capacity to throw out any new empties over the following few weeks.
Recycling metal is one of the biggest energy savers of all, compared with making new metal from mined ores, so this in particular is one area where you can make a difference.
- Electronics
Many of us will get new electronics over Christmas, whether as gifts or as an investment for the household – for example, a new TV to keep guests entertained.
It’s essential to dispose of any old unwanted electrical items in the correct way, so harmful materials can be removed and valuable components can be recycled.
Don’t just hide old equipment at the bottom of your bin or skip – get it collected properly or take it to your council recycling point, and do your bit for the environment to get the new year off to the right start.
