Have Yourself a Sustainable Little Christmas

Christmas can generate plenty of extra household waste and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is urging residents to recycle more during the festive season.
 
To recycle more at home, choose drinks in plastic bottles rather that cartons and put them in your green bin after they are finished.  Any extra recycling that won’t fit in the recycling bin can be put in clear sacks next to it for collection. In dry weather residents can leave large, flattened cardboard boxes (max 1m x 1m) next to their green bin but make sure polystyrene and plastic packaging is removed first.
 
There are lots of other items that can be recycled during the festive season and throughout the year including paper, newspapers and magazines, food tins, drinks cans and aerosols.
 
If sending cards or wrapping presents, residents are advised to choose recyclable Christmas wrapping paper and cards. Wrapping paper often has glitter on it and is generally poor quality paper so cannot be recycled and needs to go into the grey waste bin but brown paper, with ribbon and cellotape removed, can be recycled. Choosing Christmas cards which do not contain glitter, ribbons or bows means they can be recycled too. If you are unsure about what can and can’t be recycled visit www.basingstoke.gov.uk/recycle or call the council on 01256 844844.
 
As in previous years, garden waste customers will be able to put their real Christmas trees out for collection with their garden waste from Monday 9 January. Christmas trees over 6ft need to be cut in half and decorations must be removed. Real Christmas trees can also be recycled at one of 21 drop-off points across the borough between Monday 2 January and Sunday 29 January 2023. For more information visit www.basingstoke.gov.uk/christmas-tree.
 
Glass recycling is very popular at Christmas, your glass box or glass bin should be placed next to your green recycling bin by 7am on your recycling collection day. All bottles and jars should be rinsed out and any corks or tops removed. Don’t overfill the glass box or bin as it will not be emptied and please do not put bottles or jars out for collection in any other container.
 
Residents can pick up a free green glass box from the council offices in London Road, Basingstoke if they have lots of bottles and jars to recycle this festive season. Visit Deanes reception between 8.30am and 4.30pm from Monday to Friday, alternatively call 01256 844844 to request delivery. A red 140 litre glass bin can also be purchased for £40 as an alternative to a box by calling 01256 844844. Visit www.basingstoke.gov.uk/glassrecycling  for more information.

Collection days will change over the Christmas break and the revised dates are shown below. Unless adverse weather affects bin rounds, collections should return to normal from Monday 2 January 2023. The crews will take extra rubbish sacks on the first collection after Christmas only and as usual they will pick up extra recycling too.

Normal collection date                                          Festive collection date
Monday 26 December                                            Tuesday 27 December
Tuesday 27 December                                            Wednesday 28 December
Wednesday 28 December                                      Thursday 29 December
Thursday 29 December                                           Friday 30 December
Friday 30 December                                                Saturday 31 December

Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Action Cllr Hayley Eachus said: “Extra rubbish will be inevitable over the festive period but a lot of that can be recycled including glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, aerosols, tins and cans. We can all make changes to contribute to a more sustainable start to 2023 and recycling more and wasting less is among them.”

There is more information on festive bin collections on the council’s website at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/festive-bin-collections