Mid Sussex District Council is encouraging bargain hunters who are gearing up for Black Friday on 27 November to make sure they recycle their packaging when everything arrives in the post.
Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year in the UK and millions of savvy shoppers will be jumping online to try and grab the best deals when retailers announce their 24 hour sales.
Last year, UK consumers spent an estimated £810 million on Black Friday, a figure that is expected to rise to almost £1.4 billion in 2015, and online giant Ebay anticipates that 9 million British people will visit its website on Friday 27 November this year.
The number of gifts now being bought online is dramatically increasing the amount of packaging arriving through letter boxes at home. Most Amazon orders are now packaged entirely in cardboard and many other online retailers use recyclable materials for their packaging.
Mid Sussex District Council is reminding local people to recycle all the cardboard packaging from their online purchases in their blue lidded recycling bin. Residents can also recycle the moulded plastic packaging that often protects gifts such as toys, headphones and tools.
“Lots of people will be looking to grab a bargain or two when the Black Friday sale starts on 27 November and we want residents to help us recycle as much of that packaging as possible,” said Councillor Pru Moore, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Sustainability. “If you have more recycling than you can fit in your bin then you can leave the excess in a box alongside for collection but please only do this if the weather is dry. If it rains and the cardboard gets wet then it will cause problems at the sorting facility and won’t be recycled.”
It’s important to remember that bubblewrap, soft plastic wrappings, plastic bags and polystyrene cannot be recycled and should be placed into the black rubbish bin.
Full details of what can and cannot be placed in the recycling can be found online at www.midsussex.gov.uk/recycling.