Use your local Recycling Centre this Christmas and help the community

Local waste officers are asking people to use their Recycling Centre as much as possible this Christmas and New Year.

A lot of extra waste tends to be created at this time of the year so Merseyside householders are being asked to remember to recycle their cans, bottles, cardboard and real Christmas trees during and after the festive period.

The region’s 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) are operated by Veolia on behalf of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA). The HWRCs accept all sorts of materials which can be deposited by householders for free.

The HWRCs are open every day of the year – except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day – from 8.00am until 5.00pm during winter*. Many items can be deposited with the majority accepting cans, cardboard, garden waste (including real Christmas trees), glass jars and bottles, paper, scrap metal, textiles, toys and white goods. All the Centres accept electrical items.

Carl Beer, Chief Executive of MRWA, said: “A lot of waste is created at this time of the year so it’s a good chance to boost Merseyside’s recycling levels. Our Recycling Centres will happily accept the clutter of people’s packaging, bottles and cans - and we’d love your real Christmas trees.”

Jeff Sears, Director of Veolia, said: “At this time of year we produce a lot extra waste, so make sure you visit your local Recycling Centre. They will be open throughout the festive period-except Christmas day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, so bring all your extra Christmas recycling and when the festivities come to an end don’t forget to bring your Christmas tree as well and it will be sent to be composted.”

Here are ten tips for a cleaner Christmas:

• Try and separate your waste before visiting your local Recycling Centre. This way you’ll be able to deposit things more easily and help reduce queues at sites.

• Flatten cardboard boxes before adding them to a recycling container – it will take up less room.

• Remove any plastic wrapping and polystyrene before placing cardboard boxes into the correct container. Unfortunately we can’t recycle your plastic gift wrapping. Similarly, please don’t bring us plastic bags – try to reuse them as much as possible and next time you go shopping why not buy a bag-for-life?

• Try and avoid putting recyclable items in your black ‘residual’ bin bags. If you cut down on this then there’ll be less chance you’ll have excess black bin bags to bring to your HWRC.

• Bring us your cans and bottles – an extra 500 million drinks are generated during the festive period!

• After Christmas you can bring your real Christmas trees to our Recycling Centres where they’ll be shredded and turned into chippings for compost.

• All our Recycling Centres accept electrical items, so if you’ve got anything that uses batteries or has a plug that you no longer use bring it along and it’ll be recycled.

• An excess of oil is used over the Christmas period, with festive food such as turkey, roast potatoes and fry-ups on the agenda. Used cooking oil tanks can be found at each of Merseyside HWRC for residents to dispose of waste oil. Once the tanks are full, the oil is collected by eco-firm Living Fuels, who recover it into a bioliquid through a chemical free process who to provide carbon neutral electricity for UK homes and businesses.

• If there are items like toys, electrical items, bric-a-brac you don’t need after Christmas, you could donate them to the YMCA Community Reuse Shop at our South Sefton Recycling Centre.

• Why not make a New Year’s resolution to recycle more often?