Make this a bumper recycling Christmas - with New Year rewards to follow

This is the first Christmas that residents across the Royal Borough can boost recycling and get New Year 'presents' as a result - and even though the severe weather is temporarily interrupting collections it's a great time to recycle as much as possible.

The roll-out of the recycling rewards scheme is almost complete which means residents with blue wheelie bins and those on the community scheme can put their Christmas recycling to good use and earn RecycleBank Rewards to spend in the January sales. And with the 240-litre bins offering extra capacity, there's plenty of scope for a recycling bonanza.

Cllr Liam Maxwell, lead member for sustainability, said: "This Christmas, residents have fantastic opportunities for recycling and we want everyone to benefit from the rewards scheme. While we urge residents to reduce all their waste wherever possible, we appreciate that Christmas inevitably produces more than usual so it makes sense to turn that recycling into well-earned and very attractive rewards."

Around 64% of residents have now activated their RecycleBank accounts and are earning rewards - more than 11,600 in November alone.

Early indications of the full borough roll-out show that there has been an increase of around 40%* in the recycling collected from households that have activated a rewards account.

Cllr Phill Bicknell, lead member for public protection, said: "The UK produces more than three million tonnes of waste over Christmas and the New Year and it is vital for us to cut down on the amount of waste we send to expensive landfill sites. We can all play a huge part in reducing waste and the amount we have to pay in landfill tax by recycling more - and what better time than Christmas to make our blue bins work harder than ever to increase recycling!"

To help residents cut down on waste and recycle more at Christmas, here are some seasonal top tips:
• Keep your recycling and waste bins together so you can take out the rubbish and recycle at the same time.
• Get the whole family - and your Christmas visitors - involved in the household recycling routine.
• Make the most of your home composter by composting vegetable peelings.
• Jars - from cranberry sauce to mincemeat and baby food - can be recycled in your blue wheelie bin. Just give them a rinse in your leftover dish washing water and recycle with your other glass. Don't worry about removing labels; they will come off in the recycling process. Chocolate and biscuit tins can also be recycled.
• Reuse or recycle Christmas packaging, for example many glass and plastic containers can be used for food storage at home.
• Wire ties in gift packaging make excellent garden ties or seals for freezer food bags.
• Cut down on overly-packaged food and buy loose fruit and vegetables.
• Choose rechargeable batteries for electrical toys and products.
• Recycle Christmas gift wrappings and cardboard.

For details on what can be recycled in the Royal Borough visit the council's website www.rbwm.gov.uk or for more recycling information log on to www.recyclenow.com

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