We use almost 300,000 tonnes of card packaging in the UK at Christmas - enough to wrap the London Eye almost 50,000 times!
This packaging needs to be disposed of and the waste team at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is sharing some handy hints and tips on recycling to help make this a green Christmas.
Thanks to the efforts of Moorlands residents, the district's recycling rates have increased again in 2016/17 and the Council hopes these tips will help people continue their good work over the festive season.
Councillor Arthur Forrester, Cabinet member for the Environment, said: "Cards and card packaging are as much a part of our Christmas traditions as turkey and all the trimmings but they do mean that most families generate additional waste at this time of year.
"We're encouraging people to recycle these items this year as their gift to the environment - it's easy to do and recycled packaging can be turned back into packaging for use throughout the year."
Other tips for recycling festive waste include:
- Dropping items at your local recycling centre to save space at home
- Flattening cardboard boxes before recycling to make more room in your grey bin
- Remove cards with glitter on from your recycling containers
- Removing food from card and paper packaging before putting it in the brown bin
