TORRIDGE residents are being reminded to carry on recycling over the festive period.

Torridge District Council has assured the public they will be out this month collecting festive leftovers.

Residents are being reminded that many of their festive items can be recycled, including plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars, and tins in the green box; Christmas cards, in the brown bags; Christmas card envelopes, in the green bags; food waste, including turkey bones, in the green wheelie bins; real Christmas trees, which should be cut into small pieces, to go in the green wheelie bins; and cardboard in the brown bags. Excess cardboard should be placed under the green box.

Residents are reminded to rinse out and flatten all plastic bottles and food and drink cans, as this helps crews to collect double the amount of recycled materials on each round, which is especially important over the busy period. Please note that regrettably crews cannot collect wrapping paper for recycling.

Cllr Mervyn Langmean, lead member for waste and recycling, said: “Each Christmas and New Year, due to all of those presents and the additional food and drink, we see a large increase in the volume of materials, which households put out for collection. Torridge District Council is encouraging households to recycle as much as possible over the festive period. Torridge’s waste and recycling crews will be working harder than ever, catching up on rounds, with some double collections set to take place, but we will get around to everyone, so please make good use of those boxes and bags.”

For those whose normal collection takes place on Monday, December 25, black bags, green wheelie bins and recycling boxes will be collected on Tuesday, January 2.

For those whose normal collections take place on Tuesday, December 26, their waste and recycling will be collected on Wednesday, January 3.

Normal collections continued on Wednesday, December 27, Thursday, December 28 and Friday, December 29. For collections on January 1, waste and recycling will be collected one day late.

Additional information about the council’s waste and recycling services can be found on the council’s website at www.torridge.gov.uk/article/14375/Refuse-and-Recycling.