How egg-straordinary! 3,000 tonnes of waste as Easter gets unwrapped

Before tearing into your delicious Easter treats this weekend, spare a thought for the wrapper that brought them safely to you. It is one small piece of an estimated 3,000 tonnes of Easter egg waste the UK generates annually3.

We understand that the packaging on our Easter eggs has been reduced significantly in the past which is great to see3. It plays an important role as it protects and transports the eggs safely, so it is definitely needed but what happens to it all when all the chocolate is eaten up? The one thing that we want everybody to know is that the majority of your Easter egg packaging is recyclable.

Across north London, most of the cardboard, plastics and foil4 that Easter treats are generally packaged in can be put in your recycling bin. This means the packaging on your Easter egg has a better chance to be turned into something new and reduce the amount that end up as waste.

Recycling and transforming items into new products is definitely a better option than just throwing the wrapping away in your general rubbish bin. It is cheaper to recycle items than it is to dispose of them, so the more recycling we do, the better.

To encourage north London residents to recycle over the Easter period, North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has a list of top tips on their Wise Up To Waste website that can make recycling over the Easter period really simple. They include things like designating a ‘recycle bunny’ at home to tell any visitors where the recycling bin is and what can, or cannot be recycled.

NLWA also invites north Londoners to share their own tips and tricks for recycling at Easter on social media using the hashtag #Easterunwrapped. For more information, and to find out exactly what can be collected in your recycling bin, please visit wiseuptowaste.gov.uk/easterunwrapped

Notes to Editors

1. Please contact Trudi Axtens, Communications Officer for all media enquiries at Trudi.Axtens@nlwa.gov.uk or 020 8489 3660.
2. The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) was established in 1986 and is the waste disposal authority for Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest. Its primary function is to arrange the transport and disposal of waste collected by these boroughs. It is the second largest waste disposal authority in the country.
3. Statistics from The Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP, 2018)
4. London Borough of Enfield cannot accept foil for recycling.