The team at Devon Waste Education would like to take this opportunity to wish you many Season’s Greetings, however you celebrate the Midwinter holidays!

We’re taking some time off so we will not be checking emails for the whole two weeks of the School Holidays (19th December to 5th January). We will be back in January 2026 full of energy and looking forward to a great, waste free and sustainable New Year!

Did you know?

  • It’s the most wasteful time of the year!

    People in the UK spend £700 million on unwanted Christmas gifts. Only 1% of those will still be used six months after Christmas Day.

  • There’s an extra 30% of waste at Christmas time

    The extra waste at Christmas is about 3 million tonnes!

  • 150 million cards are sent at Christmas time

    The average British householder throws away 24 Christmas cards after Christmas

  • British consumers use 227,000 miles of wrapping paper every year

    Most wrapping paper cannot be recycled and the equivalent of 108 million rolls are thrown out every year in the UK.

Facts from Christmas packaging facts and waste statistics (2024 update)