Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

First of all, we'd like to thank all of our customers for making 2015 such a successful year, which included Recycling Bins running a major piece of research that was used by The Independent. We've had countless customers contact us for waste management solutions, plus our recycling kits have been purchased for schools, businesses and households across the UK.

If you're like us, you're ready to have a few days with friends, family, pigs in blankets and a few glasses of port. But before you go, to round off the year we've put together five recycling tips that are especially useful during the festive period, which you can find below.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Recycling Bins. See you in 2016!  

Christmas cards and wrapping paper

You need to be careful with these. Most cards are fine, although some kinds include glitter, metallic additions and fabrics, such as silk bows. The same goes for wrapping paper, as the shiny, metallic variety may not be accepted for recycling by your local authority. The best thing to do is check the council's website, as it's bound to include info on what your city can and can't recycle.

Sweet tins and foil

Can you use those tins for anything? They're perfect for storing things like sewing equipment and DIY bits and bobs, helping to tidy up the kitchen, office and shed whilst easy to hide away from view in a drawer. If you don't require them, they can go into your recycling bin. Tin foil can also be recycled, but it has to be relatively clean, so scrape any grease, fats and oils into your food caddy first.

Christmas trees

Once the tree is looking a bit sad, you can either carefully chop it up and put it into your garden waste bin, take it to a recycling centre, or see if your council or a private company is offering a kerbside collection. Dead Christmas trees are usually turned into woodchip, which is then used everywhere from allotments and flower beds to parks and roundabouts.

Food scraps

Every type of foodstuff can go into your food recycling caddy or straight onto a compost heap, so if there's any meat, cheese, egg shells, bones, fruit, veg, bread, plate scrapings, tea bags, coffee grounds or any other kind of organic material left over, you can rest assured that it will be help the flowers to grow come springtime.

Batteries and old electrical items

You really must avoid putting batteries and electrical equipment into your bins. When taken to a recycling centre, they can be stripped down to their individual components, with metal, plastic, circuitry and even the battery acids sometimes offering an opportunity for reprocessing. If you can't make it to a recycling centre for a while, put these items aside and take them all in one go in the New Year.