Christmas waste facts

Food waste increases by 30% during Christmas compared to other times of the year, here are some figures: 

• around 42 million Christmas meals are thrown away
• 263,000 turkeys are wasted, even though the UK buys 10 million for Christmas
• 74 million mince pies and 740,000 Christmas puddings are thrown out
• 17.2 million Brussels sprouts end up in the bin
• 2 million kg of cheese is thrown away each Christmas
• Brits cook 80% more food than usual at Christmas, but 230,000 tonnes end up in the bin
• 7.1 million pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) are wasted
• 9.8 million cups of gravy are discarded, which could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool
• 10.9 million parsnips, 11.3 million potatoes, and 9 million carrots go to waste
• about 40% of groceries sold during Christmas are discounted, leading to overbuying and waste

UK consumers use almost 4,500 tonnes of tin foil for food storage and cooking, read on for more information:

• 300 million plastic cups and straws are used
• 125,000 tonnes of food wrapping plastic is discarded during the festive season
• plastic waste from Christmas is the same weight as 3.3 million Emperor Penguins
• 125,000 tonnes of plastic are produced from wrapping materials, gift boxes, and sweet wrappers
• if all the wrapping paper discarded was laid end-to-end, it would stretch 238,800 miles
• over a million rolls of tape are used on Christmas Eve alone

Find out how to reduce Christmas packaging and wrapping waste here: Tips on reducing waste at Christmas

Did you know?

• 160,000 tonnes of Christmas trees are discarded in January
• as real trees decompose in landfill, they release 100,000 tonnes of methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas
• every year, 8 million Christmas trees are cut down, contributing to deforestation

You can reduce Christmas tree waste by re-using your artificial tree or disposing of your real tree effectively, find out more here: The great Christmas tree debate: real or artificial?

The UK spends £700 million on unwanted Christmas gifts each year, these figures show much Christmas waste costs us:

• only 1% of the gifts bought will still be in use six months after Christmas
• after Christmas, 12,500 tonnes of decorations (worth £1.2 million) are thrown away, including 68,488 miles of Christmas lights
• 141,525 tonnes of food packaging are discarded, costing £13.3 million
• 30,000 tonnes of Christmas cards end up in the bin, costing £2.8 million in landfill fees
• the average household spends £100 extra on food during Christmas, with £16 going straight to the trash, adding up to £444 million in food waste

Eating and travelling over Christmas helps contribute to the Carbon footprint, here's how: 

• cooking turkey at Christmas produces 14,056 tonnes of CO2 in the UK
• cooking sprouts for Christmas uses enough energy to power a house for three years
• Christmas travel results in 1 billion miles driven, contributing significantly to the carbon footprint
• the festive period accounts for 5.5% of the UK’s annual carbon emissions
• the carbon footprint of Christmas meals is like driving around the world 6,000 times in a car
• the Coca-Cola Christmas truck tour results in over 3,000 miles driven just for photos, with a negative environmental impact

Some figures about general waste over Christmas: 

• during Christmas and New Year, about 13,350 tonnes of glass (mainly from wine and drinks) are thrown away
• 205 million glasses of champagne are consumed and discarded each Christmas
• 40 million Christmas crackers are expected to be thrown away on Christmas Day
• most plastic waste from Christmas is single-use
• Christmas jumpers are made from plastic, and 50% of microfibres from washing them are released into the environment
• only 1 in 4 Christmas cards gets recycled
• by March, 41% of toys bought at Christmas will be broken and sent to landfills