Mayor urges London to recycle & save millions of pounds this Christmas

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is calling on Londoners to boost recycling levels over the festive season, helping to protect the environment and save the capital around £4million in rubbish disposal costs.

The cost of sending just one black bin bag of waste to landfill or incineration costs 40-50 per cent more than recycling whilst also being far less environmentally-friendly. Over the Christmas season, London will produce an estimated extra 30,000 tonnes of household rubbish, including around 6,000 tonnes of food waste. Once the Christmas feasts have been consumed and the presents unwrapped, Londoners are expected to have devoured around 1.5million turkeys; used an estimated 2,000 tonnes of glass bottles and jars; and enough wrapping paper to cover the circumference of the equator (that’s 24,902 miles).

Recycling this waste not only saves money but reduces carbon emissions too. For example if every additional wine and sherry bottle, mincemeat and cranberry sauce jar were recycled, London could save an estimated 630 tonnes of carbon, the equivalent to taking 195 cars off the road for a year. In addition by Twelfth Night, Londoners will be ready to discard an estimated one million Christmas trees and 75 tonnes of Christmas tree lights.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “If each one of us does our bit to recycle more over this festive season, we can help local authorities avoid hefty landfill charges and save money from the public purse. Every borough offers a range of recycling services, including for the capital’s forest of Christmas trees.”

It’s not just households that can make a difference, the Mayor is offering free support to London’s small and medium-sized food businesses to make tackling their food waste a New Year’s resolution. With support from the Mayor’s FoodSave programme, business are already making significant financial and food waste savings. Over 100 London businesses have signed up so far including Borough Market which is donating unsold bread and produce to charity. These businesses have prevented over 700 tonnes of food waste going to landfill and will save around £250,000 a year.

The Greater London Authority will chip the iconic Trafalgar Square Christmas tree for recycling on Monday 5th January, and the chippings will be used as fertilizer.

Every London borough offers advice and information on how to recycle over the festive season including Christmas tree disposal details. The dates that councils collect recycling from households may change over the festive period - council websites will provide more information on any changes.