Christmas recycling advice for Northumberland residents

Amounts of household waste increase dramatically over Christmas – as residents unwrap presents, consume lots of tasty festive food and then dispose of everything from wrappings to Christmas trees!

After declaring a climate emergency this year, the County Council wants everyone to do their bit for a cleaner and greener world and is providing advice and facilities to help people reuse, recycle or dispose of items correctly.

Real Christmas trees can be taken to any Northumberland household waste recovery centre, where they are collected and recycled along with other items of garden waste.

The council has also arranged some additional recycling points across the county, where people can take real Christmas trees during early January including three sites in Cramlington that will take trees between January 1st and 8th. Go to http://bit.ly/2E2BU0Y for details.

Residents can recycle tins, paper, cards and plastic bottles in their normal recycling bin, and a wide range of items can also be taken to household waste recovery centres. These include extra cardboard packaging that won’t fit into the recycling bin, glass bottles and jars, batteries and old and broken electrical items.

The household waste recovery centres are open throughout the festive period except for Christmas Day and New Years Day. To find out more about local household waste recovery centre including opening times and a list of everything that you can take there. Go to http://bit.ly/2E2BU0Y for details.

Residents are also encouraged to donate any unwanted items to charity for reuse – including old clothes, toys etc via textile recycling banks, local charity shops or even by putting them on websites such as freecycle or eBay.

Councillor Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for environment and local services at Northumberland County Council said: “It is just as important to recycle over the Christmas and New Year period as it is at other times of the year.

“In fact, over Christmas we generate around 30% more waste than normal and a lot of this can be recycled or composted.

“Our website has lots of information about where you can recycle your real Christmas tree, see tips to reduce food waste during the party season, find details about your local household waste recovery centre and see changes to bin collection days.”

“Can I take this opportunity to wish all residents a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”