Christmas tree recycling in Teignbridge

Teignbridge Council is offering residents the chance to recycle their real Christmas trees for free.

People can take advantage of the many ‘free tree’ recycling collection points on offer across the district. Anybody wishing to dispose of their tree can come along to any of the following sites:

Garden waste subscribers can place real Christmas trees inside their green bin provided the branches are less than 10cm thick.

Real trees can also be taken to Newton Abbot recycling centre, Brunel Road, at any time with the exception of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day, when it will be closed.

It’s open Mon-Fri - 9am to 4.30pm, Sat & Sun - 10am to 4.30pm.

With the season of goodwill in full swing, there’s bound to be some waste come the new year, especially with wrapping, cardboard and Christmas cards.

If Christmas cards are made from thin plain card you can recycle them from home by placing them in your green recycling box. Plain wrapping paper can also go in the green box.

As in previous years Teignbridge cannot unable to accept any Christmas cards or wrapping paper that contains foil, glitter or metal, or any type of wrapping paper in recycling boxes. This is because they are not suitable for recycling at the facilities where paper is reprocessed or for composting.

Anything of this type needs to go into the big black bin. Alternatively, many supermarkets and shops offer recycling points for cards.

Cllr Kevin Lake, Teignbridge District Council’s executive spokesman for environmental services said: “This year we rolled out huge changes to the recycling scheme, something which has given people weekly food waste collections, separate cardboard collections and the ability to recycle even more plastics. People across Teignbridge should be thanked for their recycling and reusing efforts.

“November exceeded the magic 1000 tonne mark and represents the highest monthly amount of material recycled via Teignbridge’s bulking station since records began. This is an incredible effort and largely down to residents. Our crews have worked around the clock too, so their efforts should be recognised too.

Offering these recycling points at different times helps people dispose of unwanted trees when its convenient for them. I’d encourage everybody to recycle as much of their Christmas waste as they can and help us get 2016 off to a really good start.”