Don't let Sudbury's recycling rules mix you up — consult this holiday checklist

What’s left when the dust settles around the tree can be an overwhelming amount of discarded wrapping paper, crumpled tissue and tangled ribbons.

CBC News · Posted: Dec 26, 2017 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: December 26, 2017

The city of Greater Sudbury is reminding people of what types of Christmas refuse goes in the blue box. (City of Greater Sudbury)

Unwrapping presents on Christmas Day often marks pinnacle of the holiday season for many kids and their families.

But what's left when the dust settles around the tree can be an overwhelming amount of discarded wrapping paper, crumpled tissue and tangled ribbons.

What to do with it all?

The City of Greater Sudbury's director of solid waste, Renée Brownlee, says people make a number of common mistakes when discarding their Christmas-time trash.

For example, contrary to popular belief, that thin tissue paper used to stuff gift bags actually belongs in the green composting bin rather than the blue recycling box.

Renee Brownlee is the manager of solid waste and administrative services at the City of Greater Sudbury. (Olivia Stefanovich/CBC)

As for the gift bags themselves, most of them can be recycled — provided the plastic or rope handles are cut off.

Meanwhile, ribbons, bows, tinsel and past-their-prime plastic Christmas trees should be placed in the garbage.

And that's not all.

"Wooden orange crates that come out around Christmas can't be placed in the blue box," adds Brownlee. "So if you've got one of those wooden orange crates, they would be garbage unless you can find a good reused idea for it."

Brownlee adds that a searchable list of items and where they should be discarded can be found on the Waste Wise Greater Sudbury mobile phone app.

Also, the city's Waste Wizard link allows you to search by product to see where it belongs.