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Recycling and waste volumes were calculated during January, and revealed four festive facts:
- Over 500 tonnes of additional recycling was collected during the festive period, compared to the average amount during the rest of the year.
- There was a reduction in general (black bin) festive waste with only 75 more tonnes collected than usual, demonstrating that people are reducing their waste where they can.
- Over £22,800 was raised from over 2,155 real Christmas trees being donated to St Peter’s Hospice in Long Ashton and the Weston-super-Mare Rotary Club for Weston Hospicecare.
- Over 1,200 trees went to Noah’s Ark Zoo and Farm in Wraxall where they were either turned into chippings or used for animal habitat enrichment.
Councillor Mike Solomon, North Somerset Council’s executive member for neighbourhoods and community services, said: “Working with different organisations to re-purpose and recycle Christmas trees encourages sustainable local solutions, while also having a positive impact on climate change. We look forward to building on this and being involved in similar projects in the future.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to give some well-deserved thanks. Firstly, to the team at North Somerset Environment Company (NSEC), including our crews and those working in the recycling centres. Their hard work over the festive period has not gone unnoticed. It is especially appreciated during an extremely challenging year due to the national aftershocks felt from Covid-19 and the shortage of HGV drivers.
“It is important that I thank our contractors Glendale and Enovert for all that they’ve done. Glendale has been instrumental in making the Christmas tree recycling initiative a success and it would not have been possible to deliver it without them.
“Thanks to the council’s waste team and lastly, but my no means least, I’d like to thank residents. From their recycling efforts over the festive period, to Christmas tree donations and for generally repurposing, reusing and helping to decrease black bin waste. Individual efforts have made a cumulative difference and supported our vision for a greener North Somerset.”
More information can be found on the council’s website at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/christmas-waste.
North Somerset’s Recycling and Waste team can be found on social media using the following links: Facebook (nsrecyclingandwaste) and Twitter (ns_recycling).
ENDS
Christmas tree recycling:
- St Peter’s Hospice collected 1,260 trees and raised over £15,600. www.stpetershospice.org/support-us/join-our-events/christmas-tree-collection
- Weston Rotary collected 895 trees and raised over £7,200 for Weston Hospicecare. www.westonhospicecare.org.uk/event/pinesforpounds
- Noah’s Ark Zoo and Farm published a blog about how they use Christmas trees www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk/blog/elephants-and-rhinos-branch-out-with-recycled-christmas-trees
- North Somerset Council collects real Christmas trees from properties that are registered for the kerbside garden waste service. The trees are accepted over the first two weeks, once the garden waste collection service is re-introduced following Christmas. For properties that are not registered for that service, Christmas trees can be taken to any of the three recycling centres in North Somerset at Weston-super-Mare, Backwell and Portishead and put into the garden waste skip. Once collected, garden waste recycling is transported to the transfer station in Weston. It then goes on to an industrial facility in Gloucester where it is commercially composted to create nutrient rich fertiliser.