Bradford Council is encouraging residents to have a 'green New Year' by recycling their festive waste.

Christmas is the biggest recycling opportunity of the year with increases in eating, drinking and giving presents.

Last year Bradford Council received an extra 2,000 tonnes of waste over Christmas - the equivalent of emptying 100,000 extra wheelie bins.

There are more than 60 sites across the district for recycling glass, with paper banks for Christmas cards, packaging and wrapping paper.

Christmas trees can either be taken to a Council household waste site or the Peel Park recreation depot on Bolton Road for composting.

Councillor Martin Smith, lead member for recycling, said: "It is important that we try to look after the environment and by recycling Christmas waste we can all help.

"Wrapping paper, packaging, Christmas trees, bottles and cans can all be re-used and it is a good habit to get into. I hope many people decide to keep recycling throughout 2003."

The country's binmen face a mountainous task over the next few weeks, with 90 million Christmas cards adorning homes in the county, 540,000 Christmas trees twinkling, and 380 tonnes of foil and eight sq km of wrapping paper now discarded.

Gerry McDermott, recycling officer at Bradford Council, said: "A good 70 per cent of material that goes into wheelie bins could be recycled.

"The additional packaging from the Christmas period, the drink cans and bottles, is all additional waste that could be recycled."

As well as the schemes implemented by the Council, the Woodland Trust is setting up a Christmas card recycling scheme. Cards can be taken to WHSmith and Tesco stores in the city for recycling from Monday, January 6.

Mike Townsend, the Trust's chief executive, said: "The Christmas Card Recycling Scheme is your chance to do your bit and help the UK's environment - your environment. Make recycling your cards your number one New Year resolution and support the UK's native woodland."