Egg-stra recycling call for Easter bin collections

Chocolate lovers in South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge are being reminded to think green and recycle extra aluminium foil, plastic and cardboard this Easter.

Easter is the biggest chocolate-selling period of the year after Christmas. Around 80 million chocolate eggs are sold in the UK, generating almost 5,000 tonnes of foil, plastic and card. This can all be recycled by South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge residents in their blue bins.

Extra waste generated in the UK at Easter is equivalent to the weight of around 600 double decker buses. Waste bosses are urging residents to choose products with less packaging and recycle as much as possible.

Residents are also being reminded to check their bin collection dates for Easter, as usual collection days will change due to the bank holidays:

South Cambridgeshire residents can put out additional recycling with their blue bins. One transparent sack with recycling (except glass) and one bundle of cardboard tied together, broken down to a size which would fit in the bin if there was space, will be collected.

Head of the Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service between South Cambridgeshire District and Cambridge City Councils, Trevor Nicoll, said: “Foil is often forgotten when it comes to recycling, but clean foil can be recycled over and over again. It can be made into all sorts of aluminium products from cans to aeroplanes. The best way to recycle foil from your Easter eggs is to scrunch it all together into a ball – about the size of a tennis ball – which will help it stay together and be sorted easily at the recycling plant. I’d also urge residents to double check their bin collection dates for the next couple of weeks, as we’re making changes due to the bank holidays.”

Full bin collection dates, including changes due to Easter and May bank holidays, can be found in the latest editions of the Councils’ magazines. Residents can also download their own tailored bin collection calendar at www.cambridge.gov.uk/binday for people living in Cambridge or www.scambs.gov.uk/recycling for those living in South Cambridgeshire.

Meanwhile, residents planning on a spring clean over the upcoming bank holiday weekends are being encouraged to visit one of Cambridgeshire’s household recycling centres, such as those at Milton or Thriplow, to re-use and recycle as much as possible. These centres are open over the Easter and May bank holidays. Full details are available at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/waste-and-recycling/household-recycling-centres