When the party's over
Your local authority wishes you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season. Once the festivities come to an end they'll be on hand in the New Year to help you dispose of Christmas trees and household waste responsibly.
How to dispose of Christmas trees?
Thousands of Christmas trees have been put up and lovingly decorated in homes across Ireland. When it’s time to take them back down in the New Year your local authority can help dispose of them properly. Many local authorities accept Christmas trees for recycling for free, and the trees are generally shredded for use as compost or wood chips. For details on dates and locations where Christmas trees are accepted check your local authority’s website.
Can Christmas wrapping paper be recycled?
If your gifts came in non-shiny, non-metallic wrapping paper then the paper can be easily recycled. Just make sure it’s clean and dry when you place it in the recycling bin and try to remove any Sellotape.
If the wrapping paper is shiny or metallic then it’s a different story. This type of paper is generally a composite material and can’t easily be recycled. Ideally this type of paper would be avoided, but if you did get some gifts wrapped this way you can place the paper in the regular household waste bin. You might also consider holding onto it for future re-use.
What to do with empty bottles and cans?
The best thing to do with plastic drinks bottles and cans is to bring them back to shops and supermarkets, use the reverse vending machines and get your deposits back. You don’t have to bring your bottles and cans back to the same retailer where you bought them, and you can get your deposits back in either store credit or cash. Since the Re-turn deposit return scheme was launched in Ireland in 2024 over 750 million bottles and cans have been returned in this way, so it’s been a very popular scheme.
Glass bottles can be recycled at bring banks and recycling centres, where you’ll find separate receptacles for clear, green and brown glass. The corks need to be handled separately: synthetic corks can go into your recycling bin, natural corks can go in with food waste. You can put natural corks into your brown bin if you use one of those, and they can also be composted.
Resources
- Check your local authority’s website for details on Christmas tree recycling.
- Learn how local authorities ensure waste is disposed of responsibly on our Waste Management services page.
- The MyWaste.ie website offers a comprehensive guide on what to do with different types of waste
- Visit Re-turn.ie for a guide to Ireland’s deposit return scheme.