Council urges Hackney residents to recycle to reduce festive waste

Recycling collections will continue as normal during the festive period. Photograph: Hackney Council

Hackney Council has issued a rallying cry in a bid to get residents to recycle as much festive waste as they can. The Town Hall says households in Hackney produce around 62,000 tonnes of waste every year, enough rubbish to fill London Fields seven times over.

Cardboard packaging, empty jars, foil, wrapping paper and Christmas cards can all be recycled through the council’s green box scheme or at recycling banks on estates.

Residents can help reduce their ecological footprint and the money spent on landfill tax by using the council’s blue bin or estates food recycling services. Freezing leftovers or using them to make new meals is also being encouraged by council environment chiefs.

Real Christmas trees can also be recycled once they have served their purpose. In Hackney, trees are taken to a facility in North London and made into compost which is then used on the borough’s parks and green spaces.

Residents with a garden waste recycling service can leave their trees next to their brown bin on their regular collection day. Christmas trees can also be taken to Millfields Depot, Millfields Road, E5. Residents can drop off trees between 8am and 3pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 12noon on Saturdays throughout January.

Alternatively, they can arrange a bulky waste collection from their property by calling the recycling hotline on 020 8356 6688. This service is free of charge up to four times a year.

Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods Councillor Feryal Demirci said: “With so many recycling services available to residents in Hackney, we can all do our bit to reduce waste over the festive period.”

For more information about recycling in Hackney, call 020 8356 6688 or go to the Hackney Council website.