Recycling Wrapping Paper, Cards and Ribbons After Christmas

After the presents are opened, most of us are left staring at a pile of torn wrapping paper, cards and tangled ribbon. It's tempting to sweep the whole lot into the yellow recycling bin and feel good about it, but a fair chunk of Christmas paper isn't recyclable at all. Getting it wrong can contaminate an otherwise good load of recycling, so a little sorting on Boxing Day goes a long way.

The golden rule for wrapping paper is the scrunch test. Plain paper-based wrapping that stays scrunched in a ball when you squeeze it can usually go in your kerbside yellow bin. But wrapping that springs back open, or that has a shiny metallic sheen, glitter, foil or a plastic-like coating, is not recyclable and belongs in your red general-waste bin. Those materials are a mix of plastic and paper that recycling facilities can't separate, and the glitter is simply microplastic. Before recycling any paper, remove all sticky tape, gift tags, bows and ribbon, as these are contaminants.

Greeting cards are mostly good news. A plain paper or card Christmas card can go straight in the yellow bin. However, cards with glitter, foil lettering, felt, ribbon, plastic windows or built-in batteries and musical chips need extra attention. Tear off and bin the decorated or electronic sections, and recycle the plain paper part. Any little battery or sound module from a musical card should never go in either bin — batteries are a fire risk in trucks and should go to a battery drop-off point or your local transfer station.

Ribbons, bows and curling ribbon are almost always plastic, and even the fabric-look ones usually aren't recyclable through kerbside. The best thing you can do with ribbon and gift bows is keep them. Smooth them out, coil them up in a drawer and reuse them next year — they last for many Christmases. The same goes for sturdy gift bags and good-quality wrapping you can peel off carefully; a reusable bag or a length of ribbon saves buying new each December.

Because council rules vary around the country, it's always worth a quick check of your local council website or your bin's printed guide before you fill the yellow bin, especially if you're unsure whether something counts as recyclable paper. If in doubt, leave it out — one glittery sheet won't wreck a load, but a bin full of tape, foil and ribbon can send good recycling to landfill.

Looking ahead, the easiest waste to deal with is the waste you never create. Next year, consider wrapping gifts in plain brown kraft paper, newspaper, fabric wraps or reusable gift bags, and skip the glitter and foil paper altogether. Save and reuse ribbons, keep cards for gift tags, and you'll spend far less time sorting rubbish and far more time enjoying the summer holidays.