DS Smith’s advice for recycling this Easter
Samantha Upham from DS Smith has given her top tips for recycling Easter egg packaging
Shining a spotlight on the industry
Thursday, 28 Mar 2024 17:59 GMT
DS Smith is sharing its top recycling tops to ensure everyone has an ‘Eco-Easter’
With Easter officially here and Global Recycling Day not long passed, Samantha Upham, seasonal sustainability expert at DS Smith, has shared easy-to-follow tips to follow, share, and be inspired by when recycling popular Easter products.
Upham says: “The hardest thing to digest this Easter shouldn’t be the recycling rules. Brits should feel free to enjoy a guilt-free Easter egg and be able to feel confident that the packaging they dispose of really does get recycled back into new products.. Confectionery companies have come a long way to remove unnecessary packaging and make the remaining wrapping recyclable. Now we just have to make sure that everyone has best chance to recycle as much as possible.”
Easter egg foil: Despite being a vital part of the packaging waste generated from the back of Easter eggs, foil is the least-recycled Easter egg component.
Upham’s tip: “It’s not always clear if, how and where we can recycle of the foil of our Easter Eggs. Most councils accept foil for recycling but it’s important to check with your local council guidance. If it does, scrunch all the foil together into a ball to avoid small bits being lost in the recycling process.”
Plastic packaging: There’s been a lot of effort by confectionary companies over the years to reduce the amount of plastic in Easter egg packaging, but there are still some windows made from plastic and some wrappers.
Upham’s tip: “Common plastic used in Easter egg packaging is often the same as that used for drink bottles. This means most councils can recycle it, so be sure to check your local guidelines.”
Cardboard boxes: With Brits spending over £415m (Finder Easter Spending statistics) on Easter eggs each year in the UK, there are a significant number of cardboard boxes that need to be recycled.
Upham’s tip: “As most confectionary companies are now producing 100% recyclable Easter egg packaging; it has gotten easier over the years to recycle them. Save space by collapsing the box and prevent bins from overflowing.”
Sort properly: It’s important to remember that there are a few parts of an Easter egg that need to be appropriately recycled.
Upham’s tip: “Don’t forget to separate the plastic windows from the cardboard box and remove any chocolate residue and make sure they are put in the correct bin.
Easter cards: An astounding 10 to 20 million greeting cards are sent and received around Easter. These cards add to the mountain of waste and recycling.
Upham’s tip: “The best thing to do with Easter cards is to avoid buying cards with glitter, plastic, or electrical components at all, as these are very tricky to recycle. If you already have some, don’t worry – try separating the card from the decorative backing and recycle the part with no glitter. And if you’re wondering what to do with the decorative part of your card, why not put it in your arts and crafts box and create gift labels for next year to use for future crafts projects?”
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