​Love Christmas, hate waste and have a happy festive season!

That is the message from Bury Council as they urge residents to reduce, re-use and recycle as much as they can throughout the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

There are lots of ways to cut back on the amount of waste produced at this time of year - from picking recyclable wrapping paper, choosing re-usable garlands and making use of last year’s cards as tags - to buying only as much food as is needed, using leftovers creatively, freezing foods that can’t be eaten in time, and recycling all food that does end up being wasted.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, said: “We can all make small changes that mean we waste less and re-use and recycle more. It’s simply a case of stopping to think about our actions.

“For example, switching from buying bottled water to using a re-usable water bottle is a great way of reducing how much plastic that ends up damaging our oceans and valuable wildlife. So why not put an eco-friendly water bottle at the top of your present list?

“Please also remember that plastic pots, tubs and trays go in your grey bin; the only plastic you should put in your blue bin are plastic bottles, along with cans and glass bottles and jars. Finally, after twelfth night, you can recycle your Christmas tree in the brown bin – don’t forget to chop it up so it fits inside with the lid fully closed.”

Across the borough there will be some changes to bin collection dates over the two-week festive period. A date change leaflet and a new collection calendar will be delivered to all households prior to Christmas. However, residents are encouraged to sign up for free email alerts to receive reminders and live updates on all their collections. It’s quick and easy to opt in; just go to www.bury.gov.uk/bincollections

Bin collection date changes are as follows.

Residents are reminded that there will be no brown bin collections from 23 December to 3 January so that extra effort can be put into emptying the other bin types (grey, green and blue) which can fill up more quickly at this time of year.

Extra waste and recycling can be taken to any household waste recycling centre in Greater Manchester, as can real Christmas trees. Local centres are at Cemetery Road in Radcliffe, Every Street in Bury and Lumns Lane in Clifton. Opening times are from 8am to 6pm daily except on 25 December and 1 January when they are closed. More details at www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com.

For more information about household waste, recycling and cutting back on waste visit www.bury.gov.uk/recycling

ENDS

Press release issued: 18 December 2019.

Picture: The Nott family have Christmas all wrapped up with recyclable paper wrap, re-usable garlands and tags from last year’s Christmas cards.