Christmas packaging, what can you recycle?

At Christmas-time we often have extra materials that we don’t have most weeks at home.

Don’t forget, consider ways you could reuse items before sending them to be recycled – recycling is great but reducing our waste is even better.

Here’s what to do with those holiday extras:

Large plastic tubs for sweets and chocolate

Reuse ideas: storage tub, save for cakes and bakes, decorate and use as gift boxes.
Recycle: empty tubs, even the large ones can be put in the bright blue bag

Large metal tins for biscuits

Reuse ideas: storage tub: first aid kit, small toys, small sewing repair kit, save for cakes and bakes, decorate or paint them to make a decorative planters, make a gift "box" - stick on scraps of pre-loved wrapping paper or pictures from magazines to cover it.

Recycle: empty tins can go in the bright blue bag

Christmas crackers

Recycle: remove any parts with glitter, foil or ribbons on them. Recycle the carboard in your black box.

Wrapping paper

Reuse ideas: save large pieces to be used again, shred to use as packing material, use small pieces to decorate boxes or tubs, or make your own paper bowls using preloved pieces of wrapping of a similar size to magazine pages. 

Recycle: wrapping paper free of foil, glitter and tape can be recycled in the black box.

Christmas cards

Reuse ideas: Save cards and cut them up to be used as gift tags or keep the front intact and transform it into a Christmas postcard to send next December. Use them as scrap notepaper.

Recycle: Christmas cards can be recycled with cardboard, please remove any foil, glitter or plastic.

Foil trays

Reuse ideas: large trays can be washed out and used again for cooking.

Recycle: clean out trays – kitchen paper towel can be used to wipe out grease or fat, which can be put in the food waste recycling. Once clean, trays and foil can go in the bright blue bag. No need to scrub burnt on food - this will burn off when it’s reprocessed.