Lumley launches Christmas recycling campaign

Christmas maybe the season of goodwill but it's also a period when waste levels surge - with an extra 750,000 tonnes of rubbish being produced by British families.


Actress Joanna Lumley has become the latest celebrity to support Recycle Now’s annual publicity push and launched the group’s Christmas campaign in London’s Holland Park this Tuesday.

Put into the context of climate change, the extra waste we produce at Christmas equates to well over a million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Christmas cards are the focus of this year’s campaign, with a target set to recycle 100 million of the country’s total – which amounts to over a billion.

Joanna Lumley said: “Christmas is a great time for celebrations and being with our families, but we do end up creating more waste.

“A simple way to help reduce this and help climate change at the same time is to recycle as much as possible and Christmas cards are one of the easiest items to keep out of our bins.”

Recycle Now has teamed up with the Woodland Trust and a number of major retailers including WHSmith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer in an effort to persuade the public to indulge in a spot of festive recycling.

Last year the campaign collected 93 million cards from in-store recycling points and hopes to break the 100 million barrier this year.

Fridey Cordingley, head of Recycle Now said: “The amount of extra rubbish produced over Christmas is staggering but there are lots of easy ways to help cut this down.

“Recycling is an easy way to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and help tackle climate. The extra waste we create at Christmas produces 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 – the same as producing enough energy as that required to enable all the households in Leeds and Doncaster to watch TV for a year.”

Sam Bond

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