THE new, enhanced recycling service in West Devon comes into action on Monday, December 2, just in time for Christmas.

To help residents recycle more this Christmas, West Devon Borough Council have issued specific recycling guidance on all the rubbish generated by Christmas. From mince pie cases, to advent calendars, crackers and wrapping paper, West Devon Borough Council wants its residents to be armed with a simple ‘how to’ list for recycling this year.

Cllr Caroline Mott, West Devon Borough Council’s lead member for the environment, said: ‘There are so many Christmas related items that residents can recycle this year thanks to our new recycling scheme.

‘Christmas is a time of excess, when it is all too easy to throw everything in your black sack. But with a little bit of guidance from us, we hope residents will be amazed how many items they can actually recycle.’

From Monday, December 2, residents in West Devon will be able to put out packaging such as yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, meat trays and fruit punnets as well as food and drink cartons, aluminium foil and trays and printer cartridges for recycling at the kerbside.

This means that for the first time, many Christmas essentials can be recycled, such as advent calendars — these can be separated into different materials, the card can be placed into box two and the plastic and foil can go into the new white sack.

Mince pie boxes can go in Box two and the clean foil cases can be scrunched and put in the white sack along with the plastic tray.

Last year, West Devon Borough Council will not be collecting wrapping paper for recycling, or Christmas cards with sparkles, glitter, ribbons or bows.

This year the council is encouraging residents to get creative and come up with sustainable alternatives to traditional wrapping paper and cards.

Cllr Mott added: ‘While the message we are putting out today is about how to use our recycling scheme, I would really like to see less waste overall this Christmas, particularly food waste.

‘Christmas is the season where we buy too much of everything and each year we see far too much food ending up in the black bags and not being reused or recycled. 

‘Each year the Love Food Hate Waste campaign by WRAP (The Waste and Resources Action Programme), publish some great advice for making the most of your festive food. We will be sharing these with our residents throughout the festive season.

‘Likewise our partners Recycle Devon have published some great tips for reducing and reusing this Christmas. They also provide information which will help you decide if you should go for a real or a fake tree.’

Residents who are on West Devon Borough Council’s garden waste scheme can put their real Christmas Trees out for recycling from Monday, January 6, if they are 6ft or shorter.

West Devon Borough Council would like to wish everyone a very merry, super recycling Christmas.

For more information about what can be recycled this Christmas at West Devon Borough Council visit www.westdevon.gov.uk