J&B Recycling Knowledge

Lots of people still love to send and receive birthday cards and beautifully wrapped presents. But as more and more people are aware of the environmental impact, we thought we would explain a bit about the recycling process...

Firstly, birthday cards. The good news is that most cards are paper based and can be recycled, along with their envelopes in your kerbside recycling.

Any embellishments such as ribbons or glitter cannot be recycled so should be removed first by simply tearing off that section (or cover).

Batteries should also be removed from musical cards and disposed of separately. Check if your local authority accepts batteries in your kerbside recycling (some do). If they don't, you can dispose of them at battery recycling points, such as your local supermarket.

When it comes to wrapping paper, some councils will accept wrapping paper in their household recycling collection scheme but others will not, so please check with them first.

Before recycling, remove any sticky tape and decorations such as ribbons and bows as these cannot be recycled. Foil paper and glitter paper also can not be recycled.

Wrapping paper should only be recycled if it passes the scrunch test! Simple paper, that can be scrunched into a ball (and stays as a ball) can be recycled. But any paper that can not easily be scrunched and bounces back out of a ball when you release your hand, should not be recycled and needs to go in the general waste.