Help us recycle more during the festive season

Tips to reduce your waste

Although more waste than usual is generated at this time of year, there's an easy way you can help. Simply recycling more of the right things will make a huge difference to the environment. It's cheaper and more carbon efficient for your local council to process recycling than rubbish. Here's a quick reminder of what can go in your recycling.

Paper and cardboard

Paper, card, catalogues, brochures, magazines, newspapers, envelopes, cardboard boxes and food packing sleeves. This also includes festive wrapping paper, cards and gift tags without glitter/foil/plastic/batteries.

Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays

Empty plastic food packaging such as brandy sauce pots, ready meal trays, Christmas pudding and ice cream tubs, detergent and shampoo bottles. Just rinse them clean first.

Metal food tins and drinks cans

Empty soup tins, festive assortment biscuit tins, drinks cans.

Glass bottles and jars

Empty and clean mincemeat, cranberry sauce and pickle jars, bottles of festive celebration drinks.

Recycle separately

Small electricals and batteries, clothes, shoes and accessories, sheets, duvet and pillowcases – most areas offer weekly collections.

Food waste goes in your caddy for recycling, collected weekly. Garden waste subscribers are provided with a separate bin.

You can also follow Surrey Environment Partnership's five recycling hacks.

More hints and tips

• Swap to reusable items wherever possible. You could try travel cups, drinking bottles, cloth nappies, beeswax wraps for food storage, reusable make-up removers, bamboo toothbrushes. Find out more using the Waste Less page.
• Save bows and ribbons for other occasions. They cannot go in your recycling.
• Plan food shops and party food in advance to avoid overbuying and use a food shopping app. Freeze extra food for later, read our tips to reduce food waste.
• Get more meals for your money, try some of our delicious recipes to transform uneaten food.
• Keep unrecyclable items out of the recycling bin as they could cause the whole truckload of recycling to be rejected. If in doubt, do a quick search on the Surrey Recycles search tool or app.

To find out more, visit the Surrey Environment Partnership website.