Easy ways to save on waste this Christmas

P R E S S   R E L E A S E

04 December 2025

In the UK alone, households throw away food worth an estimated £64m each holiday season. This includes hundreds of thousands of turkeys, and millions of mince pies and brussels sprouts.

But just a few simple steps could help save you money at an expensive time of year and protect precious resources.

Waste experts at the Biffa BDR Waste Treatment Facility which serves 345,000 homes across Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham, have put together some handy tips on how people can reduce waste.

The Biffa BDR plant deals with non-recyclable household waste and can handle up to 250,000 tonnes of residual waste a year with over 97% of the waste being diverted from landfill.

Abi Reid, Biffa’s Community Education Liaison Officer at Manvers, said:

The festive season is an expensive time of year and many of us are looking at ways to reduce costs but still enjoy the celebrations.

“We’ve put together some handy tips to help money go further and benefit the environment. By planning ahead and making a few simple changes we can reduce waste at Christmas which has got to be good for everyone.

Top tips include:

• Planning out Christmas dinners to reduce food waste and using leftover food in new recipes.
• Christmas jumpers are really popular but one in five jumpers are only worn once over the festive period so to save money and resources why not wear last year’s or buy a second hand one or do a Christmas jumper swap?
• Plan Christmas presents in advance to reduce last minute unwanted gifts and try to use recyclable wrapping paper or reusable gift bags.

There are some statistics behind our festive waste. Did you know that:

• The card material used at Christmas would stretch between London and Lapland over 100 times.
• Around 600 million batteries are thrown away each year in the UK, with around 189 million being used over Christmas.
• Brits eat approximately 175 million mince pies over Christmas, using 175 tonnes of aluminium packaging.
• The UK spends around £4.6 billion on Boxing Day alone, with the average shopper spending £236 each.

If you want to find out more about how to reduce waste at Christmas, Biffa BDR will be posting helpful tips on its socials and blogs throughout December.

Find us here: Learn how easy recycling can be | Waste Less South Yorkshire

Instagram: @wastelesssouthyorkshire