Bin men's warning to people throwing away Christmas cards, wrapping and gift bags
Football December 23, 2024 08:39 PM

After the Christmas holidays, refuse collectors are hard at work making sure to collect all the rubbish we accumulate - from wrapping paper, to cardboard and food waste.

But it turns out many of us might be making the bin workers' jobs a lot harder without knowing it. And now a bin man has issued a warning ahead of the holidays, so that we can make sure we're doing everything we can for the , and to make sure everything runs a little bit smoother.

You might think that you're doing a great thing for the environment by recycling wrapping paper, cards and bags, but it turns out you can't in every case. So by dropping these into the recycling you're actually making the job harder for the people who work with sorting it out.

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Taking to St Helens Borough Council's account, bin man Danny issued a warning: "Wait. Do you know what goes in what bin over the festive period? Wrapping paper, gift bags and Vhristmas cards CANNOT go in your green or blue recycling bags here in St Helens borough. Most contain foil, plastic, glitter and glue - so please pop them into your brown general waste bin!"

However, in the comment section he also advised that every council is different, so you need to check with your local one before disposing of it. Explaining why they aren't recyclable, Danny said: "It's the glitter and foil on them. If it's just plain old brown paper then that's fine. Each council is different though - it's just how it works here in St Helens so best to check with your council."

According to Recycle Now, paper-based greeting cards and envelopes can he recycled at home or or at some out of home recycling points. However, parts of greeting cards that can't be recycled are:

  • Any embellishments such as ribbons or glitter, which you should tear off before recycling
  • Batteries from musical cards, which could be recycled at official points

Similarly, wrapping paper can be recycled if it passes the 'scrunch test'. According to Recycle Now, "if it scrunches, it can be recycled". However, if there's any sticky tape or decorations such as ribbons or bows, this should be removed. You also can't recile foil or glitter-decorated tape.

Non-metallic gift bags can also be recycled. Similarly to the above, if they contain glitter or glue, that bit shouldn't be recycled.

According to Forge Recycling, most local councils facilitate the collection of Christmas cards, gift bags and wrapping through mixed recycling bins, but you can check your local council's guidelines using the .

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