Be a recycling hero this Christmas

This year Recycle Now have been encouraging the recycling of five commonly binned items:

• perfume/aftershave bottles

• aerosols

• toilet roll tubes

• plastic trigger spray bottles

• yoghurt pots.

These items should still be recycled at Christmas along with the many other items we use over the festive period. 

Become a recycling hero and make sure that every recyclable item in your home avoids the rubbish bin and gets recycled the right way!

You’ve been smelling great throughout the festive season and now you’ve used up all your perfume or aftershave. Most local authorities collect glass bottles, so remember to recycle the empty fragrance bottles and leave the lids on.

Everyone wants to stay fresh and look good during the party season. Once the partying is over, remember to recycle those empty deodorants, hairspray and shaving foam aerosols. Ensure your aerosol is empty and don’t pierce or crush them. Remove the lid and recycle with your plastics. Check the Recycling Locator for more details on recycling aerosols.

All that cleaning up after your Christmas parties, and you’ll run out of kitchen cleaner before you know it!

When recycling your empty plastic trigger spray bottles leave the trigger on and recycle alongside your other plastic bottles. Visit the Recycling Locator for more information on recycling plastic trigger spray bottles.

Your visitors have left after Christmas and the toilet paper has all gone! Not just that, all your online Christmas shopping has left you with a mountain of cardboard boxes...

If you've got loads of empty toilet roll tubes and cardboard boxes, your local authority will collect these at home.

Remember to remove any plastic or polystyrene inserts and excess sticky tape from cardboard boxes. It’s also a good idea to keep toilet roll tubes and cardboard boxes dry before recycling.

Yoghurt is a great ingredient to add to your festive desserts, but once empty, make sure the yoghurt pot gets recycled along with your other pots, tubs and trays.

Flimsy lids should be removed but plastic lids can remain for recycling - visit the Recycling Locator for more details.

We all love receiving a Christmas card from family and friends, but what do you do with all those cards once the festive season is over?

Christmas cards and their envelopes can be recycled from home unless they have foil, glitter, ribbons or bows on them. Just remember to remove any of these decorations before you recycle.

You could also keep this year’s cards to create your own gift tags for next year! 

Due to the make-up of wrapping paper and the amount of sticky tape and embellishments that cause problems at recycling plants, some local authorities do not accept wrapping paper for recycling. Visit our how to recycle wrapping paper page to find out more and to check your local guidance.

Tip: Do the scrunch test! If your local authority does collect wrapping paper for recycling, only non-foil paper will be accepted. To check, scrunch up the paper and if it doesn't spring back it is non-foil and can be recycled. 

When it’s time to take down your Christmas tree, be sure to dispose of it responsibly. Real trees are 100% recyclable and can be turned into chippings for parks. Some local authorities have special collections or organise drop-off points or they can be taken to your recycling centre. Check your local authority website for more details.

Artificial trees can’t be recycled, but they can be reused! Charities and care homes will often take artificial trees, and if they’re in good condition, they could be resold at a charity shop or online.

The Christmas dinner table wouldn’t be the same without Christmas crackers, but can they be recycled? The answer is that it’s complicated; some bits of them can, but others can’t.

Overall, it’s best to opt for eco-friendly or homemade crackers. You can get make-your-own cracker kits or get creative with recycling loo roll tubes and gift wrap. It’s great fun, but it also means you can personalise each cracker with a small, non-plastic gift. Much nicer for both people and planet!

With Christmas comes lots of toys and gadgets that need batteries!

Used batteries can be recycled, and some local authorities collect them if they are in a bag separate from your normal recycling.

You can also drop them off at your local recycling points in many shops and supermarkets, find your nearest drop off point with our Recycling Locator.

Christmas brings lots of electrical items as gifts. If you need to replace an electrical item with a new one, remember that any items that have a plug, use batteries, need charging or have a picture of a crossed-out wheelie bin on, are known as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and can be recycled instead of binned. These items should not be sent to landfill and should be recycled at recycling centres, electrical item bring banks or via electrical retailers – visit the Recycling Locator to check what electricals can be recycled in your area.   

Recycling isn’t just for Christmas: we should recycle all year round. So why not make a New Year’s resolution for 2025 to recycle one more thing every day? Together we can make a big difference!