The season of gift-giving produces twice as much waste for Edmonton’s waste management centre during the two weeks after Christmas than the rest of January and February combined, according to the city.
Some of the waste comes from gift packaging, cardboard boxes and other materials that clog up the city’s recycling bins.
“Its really important to understand what goes where,” Edmonton public education specialist Neil Burkard told CBC News Wednesday.
The city has developed a waste management app which tells Edmontonians where to put those Christmas odds and ends. For example, typical holiday decorations like Christmas lights don’t belong in regular recycling bins.
Workers sorting through recyclables at the Edmonton Waste Managent Centre right after the holiday season. (CBC )
Christmas lights should be taken to one of Edmonton’s Eco Stations for household hazardous waste, electronics and yard waste.
To avoid more waste next year, Burkard suggests people reconsider what they give to friends and family. Instead of using plastic wrapping paper, he recommends reusing paper wrapping or gift boxes and bags made of fabric.
Food waste ‘number one’ during holidays
The largest contributor to waste during the holiday season, Burkard said, comes from those holiday leftovers sitting in your fridge.
“Food waste is still the number one thing we see going into the recycling when it obviously doesn’t belong there,” Burkard said.
Public education specialist Neil Barkurd says it’s important for Edmontonians to know what goes where when it comes to trash. (CBC )
A 2017 report commissioned by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry notes that Canadians dispose of $31 billion worth of food annually, or roughly two per cent of the country’s total GDP.
The same study found that Albertans have the “dubious reputation” of wasting the most food per person in Canada.
The most recent numbers show that Edmontonians produced 334 kilograms of waste in 2015, down from 340 kilograms in 2014.