The government’s Department for Communities and Local Government has issued a series of ‘practical tips’ to the public for the disposal of Christmas trees, which includes advice to burn trees on bonfires.
The Department, which has also encouraged composting or re-planting real Christmas trees, claims that cutting up and burning old Christmas trees is ‘far better for the environment’ than placing them in residual waste bins.
DCLG has suggested burning Christmas trees in ‘bonfires and fireplaces’ as a means of disposal
However, the guidance for householders to burn trees has been called into question, with Andrew Bird, chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), describing the message as “irresponsible”.
Discarded
Publishing its tips last week (28 December), DCLG argued that many of the eight million ‘real’ Christmas trees sold in the UK every year end up discarded on streets. DCLG quoted figures put forward by the Local Government Association which estimated that taxpayers pay £100 for every 40 Christmas trees sent to landfill.
As a result, DCLG has called on the public to ‘think about the afterlife of their tree’ whether it is ‘re-planting, having it recycled to be chipped for paths or burning it on a bonfire’.
The Department adds that while burning Christmas trees releases carbon dioxide, trees in landfill decompose and produce methane gas which is ‘25 times’ more potent as a greenhouse gas.
Landfill
Local Government minister Marcus Jones, said: “When the festive season comes to an end and the clean-up operation begins we should make sure we’re all doing our bit for the environment.
“Nobody wants to spend January dodging old trees littering the streets. Reusing or recycling your Christmas tree is not only good for the planet it means your local council doesn’t have to waste money on landfill.
“Many councils offer special Christmas tree recycling services and so I’d urge local people to find out what schemes are running in their area.”
The Department also advised recycling and re-planting trees
Recycling
However, responding to the government advice, Mr Bird argued there are “no shortage of options” which should be considered before burning trees including taking trees to HWRCs where a kerbside collection is not available.
He said: “There are a number of facilities open to householders to recycle and while a number of green waste collections are suspended at this time of year you can still cut the tree up and put it into the bin for when they start again.”
Mr Bird acknowledged DCLG’s advice that specialist Christmas tree collections are also offered by some local authorities.
Also commenting on the guidance Jeremy Jacobs, technical director at the Renewable Energy Association, claimed that composting of trees is more environmentally favourable than bonfires.
He said: “Burning it is clearly not very clever. For an environmental solution it has to be composting to make sustainable fertiliser that can be used to produce new Christmas trees.”
Mr Jacobs added: “We support specific [Christmas] tree collections so that tinsel can be taken off. We don’t want that material at composting sites.”
Recycle Now
Guidance offered by the Recycle Now campaign – which is supported by government and coordinated by WRAP – householders should use collections offered by councils to recycle ‘real’ Christmas trees, where the service is available.
In areas where this is not possible, Recycle Now advises using its online Recycling Locater tool to access available disposal points.
The post DCLG Christmas tree recycling advice backs bonfires appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
