Recycle your Christmas cards
The amount of card used over Christmas in the UK would cover the London Eye almost 50,000 times.
How to recycle your Christmas cards
- remove any parts containing foil or glitter
- put in your green recycling box with your cardboard recycling
How to recycle your envelopes
- White envelopes - can be recycled in your paper recycling sack with your paper
- Brown and coloured envelopes - can be recycled in your green recycling box with your cardboard recycling
What to do with cards that contain foil or glitter
Consider cutting them up and using them as a gift tags next year, or note paper for a shopping list.
Put them in your black bin.
Sustainable alternatives to Christmas cards
There are many ways you can wish a happy Christmas to your loved ones, here are a couple of ideas:
- send an e card or newsletter
- video a Christmas message on your phone and text it to your friends
Find out what happens to the cards you recycle
Your cardboard recycling is sent to a reprocessing plant in Kent or mainland Europe where it is turned into a pulp before being used to create new cardboard and boxes. This video of the cardboard recycling process shows how the process works.