Top tips to make festive recycling in Renfrewshire easier

Residents are being encouraged to recycle effectively this Christmas to help deal with the extra packaging and food waste that comes with the festive period.

Renfrewshire Council is asking residents to use all of their recycling bins correctly and as fully as possible, with recycling a key part in ensuring there is enough space for rubbish in between collections.

The council’s top tips include:

• Flatten all cardboard boxes to create room in your blue bin
• Left over festive food should go into the brown bin or food caddy – you’ll be surprised how much space that will save in your grey bin
• Whether it’s mulled wine or a hot toddy, any cans or bottles should go into your green bin
• Paper, card and cardboard is your blue bin, but polystyrene and plastic wrapping is your grey bin
• Has it got glitter or foil? Then it’s not recyclable.
• Tinsel, baubles and fairy lights go into your black bin as they can’t be recycled.
• Recycle your real Christmas tree from 4 to 10 January at Barshaw, Lochwinnoch, Barwood and Thomas Shanks Public Parks, or at the recycling centre at Underwood Road.

Renfrewshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres are open as normal every day for residents to dispose of any extra waste that Christmas brings, except on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day when they are closed.

Councillor Cathy McEwan, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, said: “We all know the amount of packaging and food waste that Christmas can bring so it’s important that we get rid of it correctly – and that means recycling.

“If you only use your grey bin, then you’ll run out of space quickly over the festive period so make sure your recycling bins are used to full effect and correctly as contamination ruins all your hard work.

“It’s important that we recognise the impact that waste can have on our environment so please let’s work together to recycle as much as possible this Christmas.

“Our recycling centres are open almost every day throughout the festive period, so please use these too if you find Santa’s been extra good to you this year.”

The bin collection service in Renfrewshire is running as normal throughout the period, with the exception of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day when residents will have a different collection.

Grey, brown and food waste bins will be collected on 26 December and 2 January instead, while blue and green recycling bins will be collected on 27 December and 3 January.

Properties with shared bins such as flats and commercial customers will have their bins collected one day earlier than normal from 21 December, with collections returning to normal from 4 January. This excludes food waste collections which will remain the same except from Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, where they will be collected one day later.

All other bin collections will see no change and be collected as normal.

For more information on bin collection or recycling in Renfrewshire, visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/mybins or email ei@renfrewshire.gov.uk.