Douglas Borough Council’s recycling efforts were bolstered after more than eight tonnes of chippings were made from natural Christmas trees brought to the council’s collection locations at the end of the festive season.
Environmental services advisory committee chairman Councillor Ritchie McNicholl said: ‘I am greatly encouraged that so many households made the effort to bring their Christmas trees for recycling, the chippings from which, processed by council staff, will be left for a few weeks before being spread on council-maintained shrub beds across the borough.
‘Clearly the council’s “reduce, reuse, recycle” message is beginning to hit home.
‘With the government’s withdrawal from local authorities of its £5.7 million annual waste subsidy and gate fee charges set to rise by 64 per cent from this April, it is all the more crucial that as much domestic waste as possible be recycled. I would therefore urge all those households in Douglas which have yet to subscribe to the kerbside collection of recyclables service, the council operates in partnership with Braddan Commissioners, to do so soon as possible.
‘It is only through measures such as this that we can gradually move away from being a throwaway towards becoming a zero-waste society.’