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These are our Christmas Recycling Facts and Stats and we’d recommend visiting our citizen-facing campaigns for more information, advice and guidance on food waste and recycling at Christmas www.lovefoodhatewaste.com and www.recyclenow.com.
If you need a quote on recycling at Christmas, please feel free to use the following:
Adam Herriott, Sector Specialist Recycling WRAP said “Dealing with the influx of recycling over the Christmas period can feel almost as overwhelming as Santa’s workshop on Christmas Eve — bins fill quickly, timings slip, and everyone is juggling a lot at once. Simple steps such as flattening boxes, reusing gift packaging, and checking any changes to local collections can all help keep valuable materials in circulation. With the right information and a few easy habits, it’s possible to stay on top of recycling through the festive rush. And if you’re ever unsure, the Recycle Now website has clear, practical guidance to help you put the right things in the right bin – the locator will tell you exactly what’s collected, where you live.”
Official UK Waste Statistics are available via the Government’s website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-waste-data/uk-statistics-on-waste
Best wishes,
WRAP
CHRISTMAS RECYCLING TIPS FROM WRAP
Paper:
Cardboard - Flatten boxes to make more room in your recycling bin, bag or box.
Wrapping paper - only recycle paper that’s not covered in glitter and which passes the ‘scrunch test’. Some paper will be too small to recycle - like clothes labels as there is a chance it would get lost in the process.
Envelopes with plastic windows – If possible, these should be removed but not imperative as can be removed process.
Christmas trees: If you buy a real tree that still has its roots attached, you can plant it out in the garden (or pot) so that you can enjoy it throughout the year as well as for future Christmases. If you don’t have space for it, or if you’ve bought a cut tree without roots, your local council is likely to have a collection point or may even pick up your tree from your home in the New Year (check your local council’s website). Trees can be recycled into wood chips or shredded and composted. If you have an artificial tree – these cannot be recycled but can be reused! Charities, care homes etc will often take artificial trees, and if they’re in good condition, they could also be resold at a charity shop or online.
Plastic: Plastic children’s toys cannot be recycled but if they are in good condition can be re-sold or donated to charity. Soft plastics like bread bags, crisp packets, biscuit packets – can now be taken to over 6,000 supermarket locations across the UK and recycled ‘front of store’ - check the Recycle Now Locator for a list of accepted items. At kerbside you can recycle plastic bottles (drinks, cleaning, shampoo and body wash bottles) just rinse them out and pop the lid back on. You can also recycle plastic pots, tubs and trays. You cannot recycle toothpaste tube or cling film so this will need to be put in with your residual waste.
Glass: Glass bottles and jars (if not broken) can be put in with your recycling. However, Pyrex and broken drinking glass cannot be recycled and should be wrapped up so as not to injure any workers and then placed in with main waste bin.
Tin/metal: Steel & aluminium food and drinks cans can be recycled at kerbside, along with tin foil as long as it’s not saturated in food. If you can put in a big ball this will make this easier when it gets to the recycling plant. Also, deodorant cans when empty can go into your recycling.
Food waste: Each year in the UK, more than 6 million tonnes of food and drink was thrown away at home during 2021, and of this around a whopping 5 million tonnes could have been eaten. However, utilising your freezer acts like a pause button, giving you more time to eat it and saving it from the bin. Not only does it lock in freshness and preserve quality and flavour, but it’s also perfectly safe providing it’s defrosted correctly. Your food won’t deteriorate in the freezer, and most bacteria can’t grow in it, so it’s a great way to buy yourself extra time and save delicious food for later!
Recycling Tracker 2025 key highlights:
Recycling remains an established and normalised behaviour in the UK: Almost nine in ten (89%) UK citizens reporting that they regularly recycle at least most things that can be recycled.
But there are still high rates of missed capture: Over three in four (79%) of UK citizens report disposing of recyclable materials in general rubbish. On average, each household misses 2.5 recyclables.
Contamination is high: 81% of citizens are putting non-recyclable items in recycling bins. Contamination remains a persistent issue, especially for items like drinking glasses and food & drink foil pouches.
Social norms have declined: Just over one in five (22%) UK citizens perceive a very positive norm for dry recycling in their area – the average dry recycling norm score is 7.1(vs. 7.7 in 2019). Those who believe their recycling efforts are very worthwhile are more likely to perceive a higher recycling social norm than the UK average.
Low confidence levels: Less than one in ten (9%) UK citizens feel "very confident" about what can and cannot be recycled, with the majority (58%) only "mostly confident”. This lack of knowledge leads to high levels of missed capture and contamination.
Worthwhileness and recycling: Four in five (81%) UK citizens who believe their recycling efforts are very worthwhile state they recycle everything. In comparison, just over one third (35%) of UK citizens who view their recycling efforts as fairly or not worthwhile are significantly more likely to state they only recycle most but not all items.
Low council communication reach: Slightly less than two in five (37%) received information from their council this year and the past year on what can and cannot be recycled. Those who did receive recent communication, report higher confidence in their recycling efforts and perceive recycling as more worthwhile.
Impact of campaigns: 76% of citizens who have seen ‘Britain Recycles’ assets agree that their own recycling efforts are worthwhile, compared to 69% of UK citizens on average.
Food waste recycling: 42% of citizens in the UK have access to and use a food waste recycling service. 7% of citizens have access but have never used, and 9% of citizens have previously used it but have since stopped (lapsed users).
Public appetite for reuse and refill is strong: Around nine in ten (87–89%) of respondents say they could be motivated to use in-store or online reuse models for beverage, personal-care and food/drink glass containers.
Recycling at work: Four in five (81%) UK citizens have not heard or seen anything about the new legislative changes aimed at enhancing workplace recycling across all sectors.
Recycling on the go: Shopping malls and town/city centre had the lowest rates of frequent use of recycling facilities, with just one in five (20%) UK citizens reporting they recycled using these facilities “very often”.
