Christmas trees, wrapping paper and festive waste
How to recycle real trees, which wrapping paper can be recycled, and dealing with the extra packaging after Christmas.
Real Christmas trees
Remove all decorations, lights and the stand. Some councils collect trees with garden waste or at set drop-off points in January, and some trees need cutting to fit the bin. Check locally.
Wrapping paper
Plain paper usually recycles. Foil, glitter and plastic-coated paper usually does not. A simple test: if it springs back when you scrunch it, it probably cannot be recycled. Remove sticky tape and bows where you can.
Boxes and packaging
Flatten cardboard so it fits in your recycling. If there is too much, many recycling centres accept extra cardboard. Polystyrene is often not collected at the kerbside, so check your council’s list.
Broken lights and decorations
Broken fairy lights are electrical waste. See recycling electrical items.
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