This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Scots urged to recycle Christmas cards
02/01/2004
Environment Minister Ross Finnie today encouraged Scots
to recycle their Christmas cards to reduce waste and
rejuvenate Scotland's forests.
The Christmas Card Recycling Scheme 2004 aims to build
on the success of last year's campaign when 4 million cards
were recycled in Scotland. The scheme is run by the
Woodlands Trust in conjunction with WH Smith and Tesco.
Mr Finnie said:
"Every year Scots send about 100 million Christmas
cards. The vast majority of these end up in landfill sites
where they contribute to greenhouse gases and climate
change - this is a waste
"Recycling your old cards reduces demand on landfill and
other natural resources. It also helps to preserve existing
woodlands and create new ones. Old Christmas cards should
not be seen as rubbish but as a valuable resource that can
be turned into new paper based products.
"By simply taking your old cards down to the local
recycling facilities provided by the Woodland Trust you can
help protect the environment and ensure our trees and
forests are not diminished unnecessarily.
"The Woodland Trust initiative is a perfect example of
the philosophy of the Scottish Executive's 'Do a little,
Change a lot' campaign, where just by taking the simple
step of recycling Christmas cards, Scots could dramatically
reduce waste in our landfill sites."
The Woodland Trust's 2004 Christmas Card Recycling
Scheme will run from January 5, until February 1, 2004. It
provides Christmas Card Recycling facilities in High Street
WH Smith and Tescos stores across Scotland.
The Scottish Executive have introduced specific targets
for the recycling or recovery of main packaging materials.
From the January 1, 2004 new regulations will mean that
companies which manufacture or use packaging materials will
have to recover or recycle 70 per cent of material by
2008.