All About Christmas Card Recycling

Every year millions of Brits get sore hands from writing Christmas cards to workmates we see every day and long-lost university friends we haven’t spoken to in years. And millions of us also get annoyed receiving millions of cards containing mundane round robins and more glitter than you see on a dress from Strictly.

They do add a festive feel to any home or business, but recycling is vital once the holiday season is over. To instill the importance of Christmas card recycling, a few fascinating facts and stats about Christmas card waste are:

• 30,000 tons of Christmas cards are thrown away every year in the UK.
• All the Christmas cards thrown out is equivalent to £2.8 million worth of landfill
• Currently, just one in four Christmas cards are recycled.
• It’s estimated that around 8 billion Christmas cards are sent annually in the UK.
• The average UK household sends 50 Christmas cards each year.
• One tree can be turned into 3,000 Christmas cards.
• Around 500 million Christmas e-cards are also delivered every holiday season.
• Christmas cards are the most poplar of all greetings cards – accounting for 61% of seasonal greeting card sales in the USA.

Christmas cards can be recycled in either a paper or cardboard recycling bin. As the fibres in paper and cardboard are similar (sharing similar characteristics of wood pulp when broken down), they can be recycled together. Christmas cards are paper based, so you can recycle them with paper, cardboard, or dry mixed recycling.

At home, simply put any Christmas cards in your domestic recycling bin alongside plastic bottles, metal drinks cans, cardboard boxes, and other recyclables. You can also remove and recycle many embellishments some Christmas cards contain, including:

• Batteries – recycle with your WEEE waste or take to a battery recycling point.
• Plastic – any solid bits of plastic can be removed and sent for plastic recycling.
• Glitter and ribbons – unfortunately, these aren’t recyclable, so should be disposed of with your general waste.

There are a few places you can take old Christmas cards in January for recycling:

• Paper or cardboard recycling bin – commercial cardboard and paper recycling bins at work provide an easy way to recycle your old cards.
• Supermarkets – many supermarkets have specific bins or recycling pints in January to collect Christmas cards for recycling.
• Household waste recycling centres – for local Christmas card recycling visit your nearest household waste recycling centre.

An old Christmas card still has plenty of life left in it. Aside from recycling it there are many other things you can do with any old Christmas cards you find yourself with in January. A few alternative Christmas card recycling ideas include to:

• Make gift tags – simply cut out any aspect of a Christmas card that would make a good gift tag, punch a hole in the corner, and thread through some ribbon. Get creative and make gift tags in various shapes and sizes.
• Create a collage – cut out any of the designs from your old Christmas cards and arrange them in a picture frame to create an effective festive collage.
• Turn into new cards – don’t just cross out the names and resend. Instead, cut to size any of the images you like and stick on a blank card to make some new Christmas cards ready for next year.
• Use as decorations – cut up the cards into evenly sizes strips and loop them together to make festive paper chains. You could also cut them into shapes and thread them onto some string to form festive bunting.
• Build a puzzle – slice up an old Christmas card into funky shapes to create a fun puzzle for kids and adults. Cut it into as many shapes and sizes as you like for an easy or tricky challenge.

These Christmas card recycling ideas are a great way to reduce the waste you or your business makes over the holiday season. You can find out more ways to minimise the Christmas waste you create in our extensive guides to Christmas waste.