The Council again this year is providing a free real Christmas tree recycling service so residents can recycle their unwanted trees. Every year the service grows ever more popular and last year residents recycled over 8,000 trees.
In the UK approximately 250 tonnes of Christmas trees that could have been recycled are simply thrown out after Christmas and sent to landfill.
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council are helping residents to put their real Christmas trees to good use after the festive season by offering a free Christmas Tree recycling collection service. The collected trees are then recycled into soil improver.
Christmas tree collections
To recycle your real Christmas tree, please put your tree out, with decorations and pots removed, next to your wheeled bin on your usual collection day between Monday 11 January and Friday 22 January 2009.
In addition to the Christmas tree collections, the Council’s kerbside recycling service and recycling centres will help residents to recycle a lot of the extra household waste they generate during the festive season.
Let’s waste less this Christmas
Cllr Julian Ellacott , Executive Member for Environment, said: "We appreciate the efforts that most of our residents already make to recycle. But for some, much of their festive waste will be needlessly thrown away – going to landfill – when well over half could easily be recycled.
"The main sources of extra rubbish are cardboard packaging, cards, glass bottles and jars, drinks cans and of course Christmas trees, which are all recyclable. Before throwing something away, ask yourself ‘can I recycle this?’
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Christmas 2010 – you are no longer collecting Christmas trees for those without brown bins? You would prefer thousands of private car journeys than one lorry making the collection as in previous years. Not very green is it?
I know you have to make cutbacks, how about to the offensive public servant pensions? How about to the nightmarishly complex and wasteful bureacracy at town hall? Front line services can go to hell as long as jobs for the boys are protected?
I will be depositing my Christmas tree in the Town Hall car park this year and advising all and sundry to do likewise. You have lost my vote, buffoons.
Merry Christmas!
Thanks for your comment – a shame that you are unwilling to share your identity but I will try to respond nonetheless.
Basically I am not happy either that the level of service has had to be reduced this year in relation to the Christmas tree collections, however we just cannot afford to do everything we would like to do. We have been hit by the economic downturn, and face cuts of more than 10% in government funding in the next few years.
Regarding your suggestions for savings, on the face of it they are fine, but believe me the Council has been trying to make savings in these areas for years!
Specifically on pensions, individual Councils simply do not have the legal power to change the terms of the pension scheme – it is enshrined in law. We have reduced discretionary elements over the years; further changes may be allowed in future, as the new government is now reviewing the whole issue. Where we do have powers, eg over pay and other benefits, we have made cuts or freezes – for example pay has been frozen for 2 years now.
In terms of the “wasteful bureaucracy” I would not pretend to claim that none exists, but we have simplified processes considerably in recent years and reduced staff numbers accordingly – for example by using online payments or outsourcing completely. We are also working with other councils to share services and costs. If there are specific examples of “wasteful bureaucracy” which you would like to mention please do so and I will look into them.
I would ask that you don’t leave your Christmas tree at the Town Hall – doing so will only incur the Council extra cost. Priory Park is nearby and it can be left there.