It’s that time of year when your bin collection date is of utmost importance as you need to get rid of a massive amount of wrapping, packaging and other waste around Christmas. Of course with two bank holidays in the middle of the week the normal collection times have been thrown into turmoil.
So the government website has created a portal which enables people to work out when their collection will be this festive period. All you have to do is visit https://www.gov.uk/rubbish-collection-day and enter your postcode. The website will then direct you to your local council site where you can check when your bin collections are.
There have been warnings issued about recycling and whether people should use those services for wrapping paper. Also with Christmas trees, most councils will allow them to be cut up and put into garden waste bins as long as any lights, decorations, stands and/or wooden bases are removed. Obviously fake ones can’t be recycled.
According to Recycling Now some councils will accept non-foil and non-plastic wrapping paper in their household recycling collections but others will not as wrapping paper is not accepted by some recycled paper mills, so people need to check with them first.
Many varieties are actually incredibly difficult to recycle thanks to the addition of glitter, shining foils and shimmery add-ons, as well as layers of sticky tape and accessory ribbons. To help you determine which types of wrapping paper you can recycle, all you need to do is perform the simple ‘scrunch test’.
The wrapping paper recycling test
Step 1: Take the wrapping paper in your hand and scrunch it together into a tight ball.
Step 2: Open your hand to see if the paper stays scrunched together or bounces back open.
Step 3. If the paper stays scrunched in a ball, then you know it can be recycled. If, however, it bounces back open, then it can’t be recycled.
Before you place your wrapping paper in the recycling bin, ensure to remove any sticky tape, bows and ribbons, as these can’t be recycled. If you can, avoid using these at all.
“It’s a nightmare for paper mills this time of year,” Simon Ellin, the chief executive of the Recycling Association told the BBC. “Not all wrapping paper is paper. It’s a crusade we’ve been on all year – do you really need to design a non-paper wrapping paper? Make paper with recycling in mind!”