Independent UK: UK's holiday waste smashes all records

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UK's holiday waste smashes all records
Christmas packaging, millions of trees and up to a billion cards are heading to landfill – even though much of it could be recycled

By Rachel Shields
Sunday, 28 December 2008


This is a toy story, but it has no happy ending. As millions of households wade through crumpled wrapping, plastic ties and discarded boxes, the sheer weight of refuse in coming days is expected to smash all records.

Waste watchdogs warned yesterday that rubbish from the estimated 100 million toys unwrapped last week is likely to burn big holes in the ozone layer as well as in parents' pockets.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said toy manufacturers are not putting enough information about recycling on their packaging and, as a result, most of it will be sent needlessly to landfill. Over Christmas 2008 alone, this will lead to more than 400 extra tonnes of harmful C02. The news is a blow to the Government's 2007 Waste Strategy, which aims to see 40 per cent of all household waste recycled by 2010.

A survey by Recycle Now showed that while 89 per cent of British parents with children under the age of 12 would like to recycle toy packaging, 53 per cent found it difficult to know what was suitable for recycling. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/uks-holiday-waste-smashes-all-records-1213858.html