It was another busy festive season of recycling and waste collection in North Somerset.
According to official figures, crews collected a staggering 840 tonnes of recycling in the week after Christmas.
This is a 70 per cent increase from a typical week in the region.
In addition, 657 tonnes of general waste was collected from black bins, equating to 12 per cent more than a regular week.
However, food waste recycling took a slight dip, dropping by 8.5 per cent.
This decrease suggests either less food waste or a reluctance to recycle, resulting in wasted food being put into the black bins.
Tree recycling schemes, where residents repurpose their real trees, remained a popular choice this season.
A total of nearly 2,000 real trees were collected, raising over £31,000 for local charities in the process.
More than 1,200 of these trees were from North Somerset, collected by volunteers from St Peter’s Hospice and Weston Hospicecare.
Around 2,000 trees also made their way to Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall.
These will mostly be chipped and used for land regeneration, while some will be used for animal enrichment.
Councillor Annemieke Waite, North Somerset Council’s executive member for climate, waste and sustainability, applauded the efforts of the North Somerset Environment Company (NSEC) staff and praised residents for their recycling efforts.
She said: "Our NSEC staff, including crews and the teams at the recycling centres, have once again done a stellar job, with some even giving up their Sundays to keep up with increased demand over the festive period and make sure residents weren’t impacted."
Ms Waite also expressed gratitude to the contractor Glendale, who volunteered resources and equipment for chipping donated Christmas trees.
She reiterated the importance of limiting consumption, particularly during festive periods, in order to reduce waste and meet the targets of the Recycling and Waste Strategy.
For those wanting to know more about recycling and waste collection in North Somerset, the council’s website has detailed information at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/recycling.
Plus, updates are regularly posted on the North Somerset’s Recycling and Waste social media accounts.
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