[AD] Be Mighty. Recycle: 12 Days of Christmas Recycling Tips Bydd Wych. Ailgylcha: Awgrymiadau Ailgylchu dros 12 Dydd Nadolig

In September this year I teamed up with the Welsh Government and their Be Mighty Recycle campaign. It is Wales’ biggest national recycling campaign with the aim of changing the attitudes of Welsh households to increase our recycling rates. Wales is currently number three in the world, but the Welsh Government is determined to be number one. To achieve the number one spot we all need to recycle more. Unfortunately still almost half of people in Wales are not recycling everything we can. Wales has reached its highest ever rate of 65% which smashed its target of 64%. This is something Wales should be very proud of and this in turn gets us one step nearer to that number one spot.

The Be Mighty Recycle campaign has now shifted its focus to Christmas. Christmas is undoubtedly a time when we create even more waste than normal. We buy more food than at any other time of the year. There is a big increase in packaging due to all those Christmas presents that we buy. This all means that it gives us the perfect opportunity to make sure we are recycling everything we possibly can at home rather than throwing them away to end up at a landfill centre.

The Welsh Governments aim this Christmas is to clearly communicate what can and can’t be recycled so that we can all make an informed decision when we decide what goes each bin. So to coincide with Christmas the Welsh Government have produced 12 days of Christmas recycling tips so that we recycle as much as possible.

12 Days of Christmas Recycling Tips

1. Recycling Your Teabags

If you recycle just two teabags via your food waste caddy you can create enough electricity to fully charge your smartphone. That really is amazing. Thankfully in Wales 69% of people are recycling their teabags.

2. Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles such as drinks bottles, cleaning products and toiletry bottles are recycled by over 85% of us. When recycling bottles they should be empty, crushed and you should replace the lids, and remember to remove the trigger sprays and pump dispensers as these cannot be recycled. If you recycle just one shampoo bottle it will save enough energy to power a home stereo for five hours. It will take 75% less energy to a make a bottle from recycled plastic than using raw materials.

3. Recycle Your Plastic Chocolate tubs

Most plastic can be recycled which also includes the big plastic tubs your chocolates come in. These are very popular during the festive season. Remember to place this with your plastics and cans, and don’t forget to remove the wrappers before recycling.

4. Spray Another Day

Around 73% of us recycle our empty aerosols. If you recycle just one aerosol it will create enough energy to power a home stereo for 32 hours. This means you can have have Christmas songs playing for a long time. Don’t forget to make sure they are empty and remove the plastic caps.

5. Foil Mince Pie Cases

Metal can be constantly recycled and it loses none of its quality. This includes mince pie cases and all the foil that is used in cooking. Just make sure it’s clean. 70% of people in Wales recycle foil. When recycling foil make sure you scrunch it up and remove any food parts. Empty and rinse foil containers.

6. Keep Crushing Cans this Christmas

Christmas is the time when we might be drinking a beer or just enjoying a soft drink, so don’t forget to crush your cans and recycle them. Recycling just one can saves enough energy to power a vacuum cleaner for one hour.

7. Conquer Your Cardboard Packaging

Christmas is a time when cardboard is used more than any other time of the year. In wales 86% of people recycle their cardboard. When you are recycling your cardboard it’s important to remove any packaging tape and always flatten boxes so you save space in your recycling container.

8. Think Food First at Christmas

About 80% of people in Wales recycle their food waste. During the festive period we definitely buy and consume more food than at any other time of the year. So remember this Christmas you can recycle turkey bones, veg peelings and any leftovers from your Christmas dinner, and don’t forget you can recycle teabags, coffee grounds, eggshells, peelings fruit and stale bread. Make sure it all goes in your kitchen caddy for recycling. One caddy of full food waste can produce enough energy to power your TV for two hours.

9. Keeping Giving with Glass

One of the easiest things to recycle is glass. This can be recycled into new products again and again. Remember to rinse all your bottles and make sure the lid or cap is back on before recycling.

10. Christmas Cards and Envelopes

Christmas cards can be recycled. Just remember to remove ribbons, bows, glitter or foil and then just pop it into your recycling. If your paper and card is recycled separately, remember to place the cards in your card container and the envelopes in your paper container.

11. Advent Calendar Packaging

So the kids have open the last door on their advent calendar. All you have to do is separate the cardboard from the inner tray. Once that is done, flatten the outer cardboard packaging for recycling. The inner tray will need to go into your general rubbish as it’s not recyclable.

12. Christmas Trees

Real Christmas trees are 100% recyclable. You will need to check with your council if they will collect it with your garden waste or alternatively you can take them to your household waste recycling centre.

Plastic Christmas trees, whether they have embedded lights or not, should be placed with rigid plastics at your household waste recycling centre.

If you’d like to learn more about Wales Recycles 12 Days of Christmas Campaign visit: www.BeMightyRecycle.org.uk or in Welsh visit www.ByddWychAilgylcha.org.uk

Food Waste at Christmas

One of the biggest areas that people in Wales can have the biggest impact is recycling inedible food waste. Recycling inedible food waste can also have a direct impact on climate change.

Every local authority in Wales and every item of food can be recycled which includes many common items that are found at Christmas such as sprout stalks, tangerine and other fruit peelings, in addition to chestnut and nut shells to name a few.

Most local authorities in Wales send their food waste to an anaerobic digestion facility. Once it’s there it’s turned into renewable energy which then in turn powers homes and communities.

Anaerobic digestion is a system that involves the natural breakdown of food into methane and carbon dioxide gas. These gases are produced to generate electricity to power homes and throughout the local community.

Here are a couple of examples of how food can power common household items such as a caddy full of food waste could power a fridge for 18 hours or nine recycled banana peels could power a games console for 1 hour. Currently in Wales 80% of people use their food recycling service. Unfortunately not everyone recycles everything they can. Check out what used foods can be recycled by going to www.walesrecycles.org.uk/food

In a world where climate change is a big issue and it’s something we have to tackle with urgency to protect the future of the world for our children. Recycling will play a major role in that we need to use renewable energy more and make sure plastics are not dumped on landfill but recycled. Recycling helps us save energy and we must use existing materials to make new things which will stop us taking new materials from the earth. It’s actually really simple reducing our reliance on raw materials. This will then protect the environment for future generations.

Local authorities across Wales have made it easy to recycle and all local authorities in Wales offer a recycling service. If you are not sure what you can recycle home. You can check out the Recycling Locator which will tell you exactly what can be recycled in your area. www.walesrecycles.org.uk/about-recycling-locator

Finally let’s all do more recycling in Wales and make Wales number one in the world for recycling. Nadolig Llawen! 

#BeMightyRecycle #ByddWychAilgylcha