DS Smith expert shares top tips to recycle commonly used festive items, from crackers to wrapping paper – and even your tree
Brits are set to use 300,000 tonnes of card packaging waste this holiday season. Recycling figures from 20231 would suggest that over a quarter of this packaging could end up not being recycled, equivalent to over 515,000 reindeers.2
With the festive period right around the corner, families are getting ready for turkey roasts, presents and decorations, but many Brits can struggle to cope with the volume of packaging that comes with the festive period. From cards and wrapping paper, to crackers and fairy lights, confusion around the rules is causing many recyclable materials to end up in landfills or incinerators.
This comes as statistics show that the UK’s paper and cardboard recycling rate is lagging, with Brits ranking 25th out of 30 European nations for recycling rates at just 73%, compared to the European average of 82%3. Similarly, the UK household recycling rate was 44.1% in 2022, down from 44.6% in 2021.