The presents have long been forgotten and the pudding is just a bump on the waist-line - but there's one more task to do this Christmas: recycling the tree.

Hampshire County Council's 24 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) open on December 27 at 8am - ready to give the county's 100,000 real Christmas trees a second life, as well as providing all the other usual recycling facilities.

The centres can take Christmas trees and, along with other recycled green waste, turn it into Pro-Grow soil conditioner which is sold and successfully used on gardens throughout the county. Green-fingered gardeners in the county could be in line for a bargain - as the first 100 people who remember to recycle their real Christmas tree can claim a bag of Pro-Grow from their local Household Waste Recycling Centre for just £1.

The centres will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. They re-open on Sunday 27th December from 8am until 4.30pm. A list of the centres is attached.

All the sites (except the one at Andover) have a large "green waste" bin which can take garden waste throughout the year; this is shredded and composted, and recycled into Pro-Grow soil conditioner, which is usually for sale at £1.95 for a 3 litre bag.

This reduces the amount of waste which currently has to be put in a landfill site, which is no longer an environmentally-friendly or sustainable way to dispose of waste. and is part of the "War on Waste" that Hampshire is fighting, thanks to the long-term integrated waste management strategy "Project Integra". Hampshire County Council is one of the Integra partners who are trying to reduce the amount of household waste produced in Hampshire, and to maximise recycling.

22 December 1998