How Calderdale Council and Suez are preparing for extra Christmas waste

Calderdale Council are continuing to work with Suez, their Waste and Recycling contractor, to make sure the borough is geared up for the festive period.

The Council’s Assistant Director for Neighbourhoods, Andrew Pitts, said: “We know there’s a lot to think about at Christmas, but by making simple changes and considering the environment when purchasing Christmas items we can all help reduce the amount of waste in our general bins.

“Last year, we collected over 30% more food waste, over 80% glass and over 100% more cardboard over the Christmas period. To help our recycling crews cope with this extra demand, we’re asking residents to try and more evenly distribute the waste out for collection throughout the festive period and to squash items like bottles and cans.”

Tips on recycling this Christmas in Calderdale

When buying Christmas cards or wrapping paper, it’s always a good idea to avoid designs with foil, glitter or glue, to ensure they can be recycled. If you receive cards with these fixings, they can be re-used as designs for gift tags.

The ‘scrunch test’ is a good way to tell whether wrapping paper can be recycled. If the paper ‘scrunches’ it can be recycled via the weekly kerbside collection service, just put it in the green sack for paper and thin card.

Sticky tape also needs to be removed from wrapping paper before it’s placed in the recycling. Ink stamps or paint won’t affect the recycling process so any home-decorated paper can be recycled as normal.

Christmas crackers (and jokes) can be recycled, but please place any glittered, foil and ribbon items in the general waste.

Fairy lights can be recycled. Smaller lights can be placed in the recycling box; any larger fairy lights should be deposited in the electrical waste skip at your local Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Christmas trees can be put in green waste skips at any of Calderdale's Household Waste Recycling Centres, but please ensure that all decorations are removed, before depositing in the skip.

There is also a temporary collection point throughout January at Ogden Water for a donation to Friends of Ogden Water. The trees are used to make a natural barrier around the water.

Residents are reminded that their collection days may be different over Christmas.

Calendars have been delivered to households and are downloadable online showing collection days over the festive period, as well as collection dates for 2020.

The biggest change to note is that Wednesday 25 December collections will be brought forward to Saturday 21 December 2019

Extra vehicles will be on hand to help collect recycling over Christmas and New Year, and the Council is also asking residents to follow a few simple steps to help keep collections moving over the festive period and manage the huge volume of extra recycling produced:

· Put out a smaller amount of recycling every week throughout January, try not to put everything out in one go immediately after the festivities.

· Make use of the Household Waste Recycling Centres for your extra waste and recycling, and remember to visit the ‘Revive’ reuse shop at Brighouse Household Waste Recycling Centre, to donate any unwanted items.

· Squash plastics and cans, then seal in your white sack with the Velcro flap to keep it secure.