York Region asks residents to reduce, reuse and recycle holiday waste

 

 

NEWMARKET – The Regional Municipality of York is asking residents to reduce their waste this holiday season through additional recycling and reuse efforts by recycling their holiday packaging and reusing certain materials.  Listed below are some helpful guidelines for recycling and composting:

 

The following holiday items are recyclable and can be put in the Blue Box:
• Non-metallic wrapping paper
• Greeting cards, envelopes, gift cards and tags
• Cardboard packaging and boxes (with all plastic wrap removed and put in garbage)
• 2006 calendars (coils removed)
• Aluminum foil, plates and trays
• Plastic bakery containers  (muffin trays, etc.)
• Egg nog cartons, milk and juice containers

 

The following holiday items are NOT recyclable and should be reused or placed in the garbage:
• Shiny metallic-coated wrapping paper
• Tissue paper
• Ribbons, bows, beads, string, garland and tinsel
• Rigid plastic packaging (used on electronics and toy packaging)
• Batteries (these items should be taken to a York Region Household Hazardous Waste Depot)
• Bubble wrap and styrofoam

 

The following holiday items can be composted:
• Coffee grounds, filters and tea bags
• Paper napkins
• Christmas dinner leftovers, not including meat, fish or dairy in the backyard composter
(Note: all of these items are accepted in the Green Bin program, currently available in the Town of Markham and the City of Vaughan)

 

The following is a list of ways to reduce the overall holiday waste created:
• Use items such as newspapers, boxes, magazine ads, photographs and posters to wrap gifts
• When receiving gift bags with tissue paper, save them and reuse for future occasions
• Save bubble wrap, styrofoam and boxes and reuse when packaging fragile gifts or packages to be mailed
• Send e-cards and reuse Christmas cards as gift tags
• Place a recycling bin or two in the room where presents will be opened to encourage recycling efforts
• Use reusable shopping bags, instead of receiving multiple plastic bags provided by stores
• Avoid gifts with a lot of packaging; tickets, gift cards, lessons and memberships create almost no waste

 

For more information on York Region's recycling and waste diversion programs, please visit York Region's website www.york.ca and click on "Services", then "Garbage and Recycling".

 

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For more information on The Regional Municipality of York, please visit www.york.ca

 

Media Contact: Tracy Smith, Corporate Communications, York Region
 Phone:  (905) 830-4444, ext. 1209 or Cell (905) 251-6412
 Email: tracy.smith@york.ca