Milton Keynes City Council is reminding residents to put their blue AND red bins out in the week after Christmas and asking everyone to pay extra special attention when disposing of batteries this year.
Recycling rates usually rise after Christmas when people have additional packaging, wrapping and bottles to dispose of. The amount of waste collected during the festive period typically goes up by 30% compared to the rest of the year. To help, the city council will collect both types of recycling bins during week commencing 30 December.
As green bin waste levels usually dip over winter, food and garden waste collections will pause that week to give crews enough time to pick up the additional recycling.
Based on national figures and previous volumes of waste collected in the city, the city council expects during this Christmas period, MK residents will throw away:
- Three quarters of a tonne of foil mince pie wrappers
- 990 miles of wrapping paper
- 35,000 real Christmas trees
- 1.3m batteries
All of these items can be easily recycled in Milton Keynes, and the city council is raising a particular note of caution around how to recycle batteries. Batteries do not belong in your black bin, and in November Milton Keynes City Council dealt with four fires at its waste facility that were suspected to be caused by batteries from black bins.
Instead, batteries should be recycled, and the UK has a target to recycle 45% of used batteries. Most supermarkets have collection bins in-store, and you can also recycle batteries at your nearest household waste recycling centre, or pop them in a plastic sandwich or similar sealable bag and place it on top of your green bin.
“Since we introduced the red and blue bins last year, MK’s recycling rates have increased by more than a third and we send virtually nothing to landfill. Christmas can be very busy, and we’re grateful for the efforts that local people will be making to keep recycling rates high throughout the period.”