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Westminster goes green for Christmas waste collection

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As Christmas draws closer, two Westminster City Council and Veolia’s recycling and waste collection vehicles have been transformed into green Santa sleighs, spreading holiday cheer and encouraging residents and local businesses to recycle more. 

Throughout the festive season, around 18,000 tonnes of recycling and waste will be produced across the borough, the highest amount seen throughout the year. As waste volumes increase, it is even more critical to ensure we take the time to put the right thing in the right bin, to improve the current Westminster recycling rate of just 22%. The green sleighs are set to spread a sustainable message to shoppers, businesses and residents across the city, reminding them to take a few moments to sort and recycle correctly. 

Our festive themed collection vehicles will be seen by thousands of people in Westminster throughout December and we hope they inspire all of them to recycle more, and to have a sustainable Christmas. It takes a collective effort to achieve environmental change, but if we all ensure our recyclable materials end up in the recycling bin, we are one step closer.
Helder Branco
Senior Contract Manager for Veolia

The biggest issue facing the council is a low level of recycling. Unfortunately, a lot of recyclable material in Westminster is currently being disposed of as general waste, and this has a negative impact on our environment. Over the festive period, we are encouraging everyone to take the steps to recycle, and have produced some handy tips to help improve the quality of recycling in Westminster.

Mixed recycling can include: 

  • Cards without glitter, badges, or batteries
  • Paper gift wrap, non-shiny wrapping paper, and paper gift bags – with any strings removed 
  • Glass food jars – just give them a quick rinse beforehand

REMEMBER – Westminster operate a kerbside collection service for mixed recycling. Please ensure that your mixed recycling items go into your bags, boxes, or bins to be collected.

There are also 26 recycling points across Westminster to recycle your real Christmas Tree.

Please visit westminster.gov.uk/xmas-recycling for more information.

Our festive message is to close the waste loop by improving participation with recycling. Please help us by following the guidelines and recycling as much as possible.
 

With festive cheer comes a vast increase in waste across the City, as thousands of wrapped presents quickly become thousands of tonnes of rubbish for our contractor Veolia to collect. 

We’re encouraging everyone to recycle as much as they can over the Christmas period. By making a small effort to sort recyclable materials, we can work together to make the city cleaner and greener year-round.
Cllr Tim Mitchell
Deputy Leader (Delivery)