Christmas trees can be recycled at the end of the festive season

East Sussex County Council is hoping to top the 7,800 tonnes of cards recycled in the county last Christmas.

It is also encouraging people to recycle their old clothes which have been replaced by new garments received as Christmas presents.

And staff at Kew's country garden at Wakehurst Place are encouraging people to recycle their Christmas trees there.

'Weight of 80,000 reindeer'

Councillor Matthew Lock, county council cabinet member for the environment, said: "Just throwing our rubbish into the bin to be taken to landfill is no longer an option as the main way of disposing of waste.

"We throw away far too much instead of recycling.

"For example, according to national statistics, the amount of old clothes thrown away in the country over the festive season equates to the staggering weight of 80,000 reindeer."

The county council is encouraging people to take their Christmas cards to branches of Tesco and WH Smith, from where they can be taken to paper mills to be processed into new paper products.

Trees taken to Kew's gardens at Wakehurst Place, near Ardingly, on Sunday 9 January, will be reduced to chippings which can be used by gardeners on the 500-acre estate.