The retailer listed the type of Christmas waste thrown away every Christmas each year:
- 289,171 tonnes of card packaging
- 125,000 tonnes of Christmas plastic waste
- 4,200 tonnes of foil from turkey wrapping
- 1 billion Christmas cards
- 227,000 miles of Christmas wrapping paper waste
- 270,000 tonnes of food waste, including 2 million turkeys, 5 million Christmas puddings, 74 million mince pies and 2.2 million kilograms of cheese
- 6 million Christmas trees
- 32.9 million advent calendars
Packaging Online called for consumers to avoid packaging that featured polystyrene, plastic film, plastic tape and items with glitter, switch to sustainable alternatives like eco-friendly tape or eco loose fill, and use reusable tote bags when Christmas shopping.
[If everyone recycles correctly, the UK`s gifting date waste will decrease by as much as 374,000 tonnes," said the company.
It also urged Britons to plan food and meals carefully and not buy too much, and compost the waste generated.
[While food waste might not seem a big deal, studies show food losses and waste account for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions – around three times the global emissions from aviation."