What should be done with the leftover fat from the Christmas ham? What about candlesticks and stearin? At Christmas, even an experienced sorter can get baffled by waste they don’t see every day. We put together some recycling tips for the Christmas season that will help you sort everything successfully even during the holidays!
Recycling cards, flowers, and wrapping paper
Being remembered is nice, but before long you will have to face the facts and throw the received cards and flowers in the trash. Christmas cards are sorted into cardboard, flowers and their soil into biowaste, and flower wrappers, depending on the material, into either cardboard or plastic recycling.
Candles, tealights, and outdoor candles
Live fire provides a great atmosphere, but never overlook fire safety! Never leave fire unattended and ensure that outdoor fires are at a sufficient distance from combustible materials. When you are done, dispose of the candle stubs and stearin in burnable waste. Do not under any circumstances pour stearin down the drain! Cleaned metal and foil casings of tealights and outdoor fires can be sorted into metal collection.
Gift wrappings for reuse or into mixed waste
Did you manage to unwrap your gift without tearing the wrapping? Save it for next Christmas, and you’ll save yourself from buying new wrappings! If the recipient excitedly shredded the wrapping paper, sort the remains into mixed waste. Christmas wrappings are typically not suitable for paper or cardboard collection because of the dyes, pieces of tape, and stickers they contain.
Christmas tree to the sorting station or into waste container, cut into pieces
Christmas trees should primarily be taken to a sorting station of Lounais-Suomen jätehuolto waste management company, which accepts them free of charge. You can find your nearest sorting station here: https://lsjh.fi/lajitteluasemat/.
Christmas trees can be sorted into the combustible waste containers in waste collection points, as long as the tree fits fully into the waste container – so you need to cut the tree into pieces before placing it inside. If any Christmas trees are left outside the containers, the waste management company will charge a separate collection fee for each tree. These extra charges will increase waste management costs and add to the pressure to raise rents.
Plastic trees often contain metal and should be sorted into metal waste.
Ham fat can be disastrous in the kitchen
Leftover fat from the ham is probably the most notorious of Christmas waste. Do not under any circumstances pour fat into the sink or the toilet, as it will clog the drain. Let the fat from ham and other Christmas dishes cool down and solidify, for example, in an empty milk carton, and then put it into mixed waste.
Tip – use the grase as a stock for cooking later: By freezing the grease in small single-use containers, you can easily use it for cooking at a later date.
Tinfoil, tins, and other kitchen waste
Tinfoil and aluminium tins can be rinsed clean and sorted into metal collection. Plastic bread, freezer, and pastry bags naturally belong in plastic waste. Boxes of chocolate or other candy, however, typically contain several different materials. The cardboard outer shell is sorted into cardboard, but the plastic parts inside the box belong in plastic collection.
Broken Christmas ornaments
Tree ornaments, tinsel, the tree-top star and other Christmas decorations are all mixed waste. If more than half of the decoration is metal, it should be sorted into metal waste. Broken Christmas lights and electric candles are electric scrap, and can be taken to large stores selling them (specialist stores, department stores), the Sortti station or Turun Ekotori Reuse Centre.
