Wednesday 7th December 2022
It’s that time of the year again, when offices are decorated with festive decorations and many evenings are filled with work drinks and Christmas parties.BUT with all these festivities, comes more waste than usual. The question on many people’s lips may be, can I recycle this? Well, we’ve got your back. Here’s 5 common Christmas items and more info on how you can recycle them.
Image: Chad Madden
Tinsel As tinsel is plastic, it can be put into our Sustainable Box where it can be transformed into Stormboard, a robust building material. However, better still, you can reuse it year-on-year which reduces your carbon footprint. Christmas Trees Recorra offers Christmas tree recycling within Greater London, which allows for your organisations’ tree to be properly dealt with and sent to anaerobic digestion where it’s turned back into compost and biofertiliser. If this is something your business is interested in, contact our friendly helpdesk who will arrange a collection for you. Contact helpdesk@recorra.co.uk or call us on 020 7407 9100.
Image: Garden with Grace
CorksCorks from wine bottles are not accepted in many recycling schemes; however, they have some great uses. They can be cut up and used for garden beds and you can stick them on a round ball to create attractive, and completely recycled Christmas decorations for your office or home alike.Advent Calendars Often made from a variety of materials, advent calendars are typically difficult to recycle. What you need to do is separate the cardboard and foil from the plastic tray. If you have a paper, cans & plastic containers (otherwise known as mixed recycling) waste stream in your workplace, this is where the components should go. Make sure all food residue is removed as this could contaminate the whole bin.Wrapping Paper Most wrapping paper is coated with a plastic protective coating, which means it’s not recyclable in PCPC (mixed recycling) or a paper stream. However, look out for brown paper (without decoration on it) as this is recyclable and a much better alternative for your secret Santa.
So, whatever your plans this holiday season, be sure to consider how best you can care for your waste and recycle where possible.
