A bin man from St Helens Borough Council has warned that not all Christmas wrapping paper, cards and gift bags can be recycled – and shares the ‘scrunch test’ to help you decide
A bin man has issued an important reminder to residents disposing of Christmas wrapping paper, cards and gift bags this month.
While the thrill of unwrapping presents with loved ones on Christmas Day is unmatched, the aftermath of tidying up is far less enjoyable. With living room floors typically covered in wrapping paper and gift bags, many people’s instinct is to bundle it all up and place it straight into the recycling bin.
However, what many don’t realise is that not all festive gift wrapping is recyclable. The Christmas period represents one of the busiest times for waste collection teams, making it vital that residents don’t complicate their work by incorrectly disposing of materials.
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A refuse collector fvrom St Helens Borough Council has appealed to residents to exercise caution when recycling Christmas wrapping paper, cards and gift bags. In a video posted to the council’s TikTok account, Danny explained: “Do you know what goes in what bin over the festive period? Wrapping paper, gift bags and christmas cards CANNOT go in your green or blue recycling bags here in St Helens borough.”
When a viewer questioned: “Why aren’t they recyclable? ,” the bin man clarified: “Most contain foil, plastic, glitter and glue – so please pop them into your brown general waste bin. If it’s just plain old brown paper then that’s fine. Each council is different though – it’s just how it works here in St Helens so best to check with your council.”
Recycling experts from Kingfisher Direct are encouraging people to test the recyclability of their Christmas wrapping paper. Ryanvir Kaila from Kingfisher Direct has outlined a simple three-step process to determine if your wrapping paper can be recycled:.
Step 1: Scrunch the wrapping paper into a ball.
Step 2: Release the scrunched-up wrapping paper.
Step 3: If the wrapping paper stays scrunched, it’s recyclable.
Ryan emphasises, “It is important to remember that if wrapping paper has glitter, foil or any adhesive on it, then it cannot be recycled regardless of whether it remains scrunched”.
He also advocates for reusing wrapping paper whenever feasible. “If your wrapping paper is kept intact, with no rips and little wrinkling, then it can even be reused to wrap another present. Re-using wrapping paper is a great hack as it not only saves you spending money on new wrapping paper, but it ensures that less wrapping paper is being disposed of in general waste,” he advises.
Manchester council has provided its own guidance on recycling wrapping paper and greeting cards on its website. The advice states: “You can recycle most greetings cards and wrapping paper in your blue paper and card bin. You can also recycle them at your local tip / recycling centre.”
However, there are certain things you need to check:
- You can only recycle greetings cards and wrapping paper if they’re entirely made out of paper. To find out if the wrapping is made of paper, try to scrunch it into a ball. If it stays scrunched, it can be recycled
- Some wrapping paper is made out of foil, has a plastic coating, or includes non-paper decorations like glitter, gold or silver coloured shapes, and other plastics. None of these can be recycled. You can tear off any glittery parts or non-paper decorations and put them in your grey general waste bin
- Make sure you also remove any bows or ribbons before recycling your wrapping paper.
