PETERBOROUGH City Council has teamed up with Aragon Direct Services, which manages its waste contract, to encourage residents to recycle over the festive period.
Steve Cox, Peterborough City Council’s executive director of place and economy, said: “The amount of waste we choose to discard has a direct impact on our environment, as well as the council’s budget.
“The city council could save a massive £48,000 if every household recycles an additional one per cent of their waste.
“At a time when there are huge demands on the council’s budget for adult social care, homelessness and children’s service, we’re having to make some really difficult decisions on how we spend our money.
“Not to mention our ongoing commitment to reduce our carbon emissions down to zero by 2030 as part of the Climate Emergency we declared earlier this year.
“This is why it’s so important that residents help reduce waste and increase recycling. Don’t let Christmas cost the Earth – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”
During the Christmas period the UK will accumulate the following additional waste:
- 10 million Turkeys consumed equates to 3,000 tonnes of packaging
- 1 million mince pie cases equates to 1 tonne of aluminium
- 500 million additional canned drinks
- 13,350 tonnes of glass bottles
- 108 million rolls of wrapping paper
- 1 billion Christmas cards – the equivalent of 33 million trees
- 54 million platefuls of food waste during December
- £42 million of unwanted Christmas presents
- 125,000 tonnes of plastic wrapping
Kieron King, operations director for Aragon Direct Services, said: “It’s easy to forget about the amount of packaging and food waste when you are busy enjoying the festivities, however the statistics are eye-opening.”
