Recycle your Christmas tree for a greener Newark and Sherwood

For a £5 fee residents can have their tree collected, and all money collected will go back into creating a greener community with the planting of whips and saplings around the district.

Last year the proceeds went to a primary school where new trees were planted at the school site. Silver Birch, Hazel, Rowan and Crab Apple trees were planted to form a small school woodland in the future. It is hoped this year’s programme will be equally as successful, with the money again being used to plant trees in the district.

Newark and Sherwood District Council’s Waste Management team will be collecting trees for a £5 fee from January 2022. To book your collection go to: https://selfservice.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/renderform.aspx?t=104&k=B109E9D067DB923CC5E37A955E90AEC48470035F or call the customer services team on 01636 650 000.

The collected trees will be recycled into chippings to be used in the district for path surfacing if suitable or used for mulch on shrub beds to keep weeds at bay, so not only will the money from the collections go back into the community, but so will the trees themselves.

Christmas can be one of the worst times of year for waste. Residents are encouraged to find more sustainable options to dispose of any unwanted items this festive season, whether it be food, decorations or gift wrapping etc.

Here are some useful tips to reduce your waste this Christmas:

• Take wine bottles, beer bottles etc. to your nearest bottle bank.
• To avoid excess food waste, visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for ideas for using up leftovers, tips on food storage and preparing correct portion sizes.
• Natural Christmas wreaths – can be put in the garden bin if not held together with any wire/metal/glue.
• Not sure if your wrapping paper is recyclable? Try the scrunch test to see! If you scrunch the paper and it stays crumpled, you can recycle it. If it unfolds itself then it can’t be. Watch this video to see the scrunch test in action: https://youtu.be/8PBps0ccvXc
• Use your Christmas leftovers in delicious recipes that you can freeze (turkey can be a delicious addition to a curry!)
• Make a shopping list before you head out to the supermarket- then you won’t be so tempted to mindlessly add items to your trolley
• Dyed, laminated, glittery, plastic wrapping cannot be recycled. You can swap to more sustainable options like brown paper, a gift bag that they can reuse, or even fun fabric you can find at local charity shops!

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “Recycling your Christmas tree not only means residents don’t have to worry about how to dispose of their tree, but also means the community can be greener at Christmas, which can be difficult at this time of year!

“We are continually working to make the district a better place to live, work and visit and there is no reason why we should not continue this throughout the Christmas period. This recycling scheme means that even once our Christmas trees are done decorating our homes they still have an important purpose.”

If residents pay for a garden waste collection service they can also put their real trees in their garden waste bin for recycling.

All real trees can also be taken to any household recycling centre in the district.