How Much Extra Waste this Christmas?

According to new research from Recycle Now, the national recycling campaign, households are set to produce nearly three quarters of a million tonnes (736,574) of extra waste this Christmas.

This means on average each family will throw out an additional five sacks of rubbish over the festive period. That's the equivalent of generating 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Each family in the UK creates at least 68kg of carbon dioxide from this extra waste which would provide enough energy to power home fairy-lights continuously for 18 years.

Recycle Now has also teamed up with the Woodland Trust Christmas Card Recycling Scheme to enable people to recycle their cards throughout January at participating Tesco (excludes Express), mainland WHSmith high street stores, TKMaxx and Marks & Spencer stores throughout January.

"All this festive consumption means extra waste, which if consigned to the bin will end up in landfill and potentially generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas. One way in which we can all make a difference this Christmas is by recycling and the good news is that nine out of ten homes now have a doorstep recycling service for a range of materials including paper, card, glass, metal cans. Recycling also has a positive impact on helping to tackle climate change, with current recycling in the UK saving greenhouse gases equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road."
Dr Liz Goodwin, Chief Executive, WRAP

Thanks to the public's support last year, 93 million cards were collected. That's enough to enable the charity to plant 22,000 trees or a forest the size of 44 football pitches. This year the scheme hopes to raise funds to plant 24,000 trees by collecting 100 million cards.

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