After a busy Christmas season of gift-giving, many households will have piles of wrapping paper to throw away, as well as Christmas cards and gift bags. However, many Brits may not know exactly how to dispose of these things properly. Whether or not things can be recycled depends on the materials they are made from, and there are certain kinds of paper and card that should not go into your recycling bin. 

However, there is a quick test you can do to determine if these items are actually recyclable, according to one expert. A binman from St Helens Borough Council has urged people to be aware of the kinds of wrapping paper and other festive waste items that can and cannot be recycled, while other experts have provided a quick way for you to tell the difference. The St Helens binman shared advice on the council's official TikTok account, revealing which kinds of items can and cannot be placed into the recycling bin.

"Do you know what goes in what bin over the festive period?" he said in the clip. "Wrapping paper, gift bags and Christmas cards CANNOT go in your green or blue recycling bags here in St Helens borough."

After one viewer asked why that was the case, he responded: "Most contain foil, plastic, glitter and glue - so please pop them into your brown general waste bin. If it’s just plain old brown paper then that’s fine. Each council is different though - it’s just how it works here in St Helens so best to check with your council."

There is a simple way to test whether something can be recycled or not, according to Ryanvir Kaila from Kingfisher Direct.

They list three steps to test materials and determine how to dispose of them. They are:

• Step 1: Scrunch the wrapping paper into a ball.
• Step 2: Stop squeezing the wrapping paper. Completely let it go.
• Step 3: Check what the wrapping paper does. If it remains scrunched, then it is typically recyclable. If it springs back, it is likely not recyclable.

Ryanvir adds: "It is important to remember that if wrapping paper has glitter, foil or any adhesive on it, then it cannot be recycled, regardless of whether it remains scrunched.

"If your wrapping paper is kept intact, with no rips and little wrinkling, then it can even be reused to wrap another present. Re-using wrapping paper is a great hack as it not only saves you spending money on new wrapping paper, but it ensures that less wrapping paper is being disposed of in general waste."