christmas-tree-with-gifts-flipbook The Council again this year is providing a free real Christmas tree recycling service so residents can recycle their unwanted trees. Every year the service grows ever more popular and last year residents recycled over 8,000 trees.

In the UK approximately 250 tonnes of Christmas trees that could have been recycled are simply thrown out after Christmas and sent to landfill.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council are helping residents to put their real Christmas trees to good use after the festive season by offering a free Christmas Tree recycling collection service.  The collected trees are then recycled into soil improver.

Christmas tree collections

To recycle your real Christmas tree, please put your tree out, with decorations and pots removed, next to your wheeled bin on your usual collection day between Monday 11 January and Friday 22 January 2009.

In addition to the Christmas tree collections, the Council’s kerbside recycling service and recycling centres will help residents to recycle a lot of the extra household waste they generate during the festive season.

Let’s waste less this Christmas

Cllr Julian Ellacott    , Executive Member for Environment, said: "We appreciate the efforts that most of our residents already make to recycle. But for some, much of their festive waste will be needlessly thrown away - going to landfill – when well over half could easily be recycled.

"The main sources of extra rubbish are cardboard packaging, cards, glass bottles and jars, drinks cans and of course Christmas trees, which are all recyclable.  Before throwing something away, ask yourself ‘can I recycle this?’