RESIDENTS are being asked to think 'Slim Your Bin' this Christmas.Each year the Post Office handles an extra 430 million items of post perweek during December, a frightening amount, and the public purchase fivemillion real Christmas trees.

RESIDENTS are being asked to think 'Slim Your Bin' this Christmas.

Each year the Post Office handles an extra 430 million items of post per

week during December, a frightening amount, and the public purchase five

million real Christmas trees.

Without recycling, most of these cards and trees will end up in landfill. Add to these the millions of bottles and cans thrown away during the festive season, plus toy packaging and wrapping paper, and its easy to see what a problem Christmas waste poses.

However, together we can make a huge impact on this problem. There are 80

recycling sites around town. The 50 paper banks can take Christmas cards

and wrapping paper, just pop them in with your newspapers. Bottles and

cans should be sorted and placed in the appropriate banks.

Schools will once again be invited to take part in a Christmas card

recycling competition, with two major cash prizes sponsored by P&O Closed

Loop Logistics.

Christmas cards will also be collected at selected Post Offices and other

locations round town.

Trees can be taken to Portman Road and Foxhall Household Waste and

Recycling Centres, where they will be shredded and composted. The centres

also have dedicated banks for cardboard packaging.

For further information please ring the Ipswich Borough Council's Recycling Team on 01473 433070.