Celebrity comedian Jo Brand and sports presenter Jake Humphrey are encouraging the public to recycle their Christmas cards at Marks & Spencers stores throughout the UK.
Meanwhile supermarket giant Sainsburys is once again partnering with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) on the initiative, with increased coverage in stores after a successful campaign at Christmas 2012.
The retailers have taken it upon themselves to provide this service to residents for the last two years after a scheme organised by the Woodland Trust came to an end in January 2011 due to a lack of funding and participants (see letsrecycle.com story).
Card collection bins will be in M&S stores from January 2 to January 31 2014. Money generated through the card recycling scheme will fund the planting of new trees throughout the UK. A tree is planted for every 1,000 cards collected for recycling by M&S. Last year the scheme saw 10 million cards collected at M&S stores throughout January, resulting in 10,000 trees being planted. This was an increase from the previous year when 8 million cards were collected in store.
Marks & Spencers involvement in Christmas card recycling falls under its Plan A remit. Mike Barry, head of sustainable business at M&S said: This is a fantastic campaign which provides a really easy way for everyone to get involved in planting new woodland and preserving our important natural habitats by doing something as simple as dropping your old Christmas cards off at a M&S store.
Jo Mathieson of the Woodland Trust described the scheme as win, win. By recycling cards via the M&S Recycling Scheme, you are playing a key part in turning unwanted waste into much needed trees…By dropping your cards off at M&S stores in January, youre helping us plant new woodlands or, to think of it another way, grow new homes for hundreds of species, from dormice to woodpeckers, beetles to butterflies.
Sainsburys
Meanwhile supermarket giant Sainsburys is rolling out Christmas card recycling bins at over 1,100 stores from December 26 to January 14. Additionally, the supermarket is offering for the cards to be collected from customers households when their online grocery order is delivered. FSC UK will receive a financial donation based upon the weight of the cards collected.
The retailer has increased the coverage of the scheme over the last two years. In 2011/12 the recycling bins only appeared in a relatively small number of stores, in 2012/13 this number increased and in 2013/14 almost every store will have a bin.
Last year Sainsburys donated almost 9,000 to FSC UK as a result of collecting 63 tonnes of Christmas cards for recycling. This was an increase from Christmas 2011 when almost 50 tonnes were recycled resulting in a donation of 6,930.
Commenting on the increase, a spokeswoman for FSC said she had high hopes for this years weigh in: In 2012/13 Sainsburys match funded to give a total contribution to FSC UK of 8,829.80. We do not know whether Sainsburys will match the funds raised by recycling the cards this year, but hope that the substantial increase in the number of bins will ensure that we still receive a sizable donation.
The income FSC receives from the initiative goes towards its national education and outreach activities. Rosie Teasdale, deputy director of FSC UK, said: As a small charity, FSC UK relies heavily on the support of companies such as Sainsburys for this work, and it is fitting that the money is raised through card recycling, reducing the pressure on the world’s forests.
In a further bid to reduce its environmental impact, Sainsburys also stocks Christmas cards which are made from FSC certified sources.
Councils
Local authorities are also getting on board to encourage the recycling of Christmas cards, including: Cheltenham borough council; district of Harborough; Test Valley borough council; Leicestershire county council; and, Warwick district council.
This is the first year that Warwick has accepted wrapping paper and Christmas cards through its kerbside recycling scheme. However, like many other councils, it warns that glittery and metallic wrapping paper and cards, ribbons, bows and sticky tape cannot be recycled.
WRAP is promoting the recycling of Christmas cards through its Recycle Now programme which encourages people to recycle the items through their kerbside collection scheme or at a local recycling bank.
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