Rutland County Council is encouraging residents to cut down on festive waste and recycle responsibly over the Christmas and New Year period.

Christmas is when Rutland generates the most waste. Throughout the year, people living in the county produce around 850 tonnes of waste a month. However, this rises to nearly a thousand tonnes a month in December and January, when food and presents create lots of extra rubbish and recycling.

Rutland County Council has once again launched a Festive Waste Guide on its website, where you can find a range of useful tips, including how to reuse leftovers, what to do with wrapping paper and where to dispose of Christmas trees.

Over the Christmas period, the Council is providing residents with special blue bags to cater for excess recyclable waste. Households can also order a free supplementary recycling bin from the Rutland County Council website, which includes details of changes to bin collection services over Christmas.

Coun Lucy Stephenson, Portfolio Holder for Waste and the Environment, said: "Christmas is our busiest time of year for waste and recycling. Once again, we'll be working hard to help families reduce excess, recycle more and get into good habits, such as rinsing bottles and pots and putting items loose into the grey bin."

"Reducing, reusing and recycling waste isn't just good for the environment, it can help save money. I'd encourage everyone to think about what they're throwing away and recycling over Christmas and to help us cut down on the volume of festive waste in Rutland."

For recycling tips and advice over the Christmas and New Year period, residents are asked to follow Rutland County Council on Twitter or Facebook page, where there will be regular updates. People can also find out more by going to www.rutland.gov.uk/festivewaste.

· All household recycling needs to be clean, dry and placed loose into your grey bin – please don't tie it up in bags as this makes it harder to sort and process once collected. The only exception to this is at Christmas, when households are provided with a blue bag for extra recycling. This is something we plan for every year

· Recycle all over the house, not just in the kitchen – studies show many families will only recycle food packaging and kitchen items. Places such as living rooms, toilets and bedrooms are full of excellent recycling, much of which ends up in black household waste bins. Go to www.rutland.gov.uk/festivewaste to see exactly what you can recycle in Rutland

· You shouldn't put textiles like cloths, towels or bedding in your grey bin. Don't just put them in your black bin, though. You can dispose of textiles at our North Luffenham Recycling Centre, at charity shops, or in charity bag collections that are posted through letter boxes

· We can't recycle disposable nappies but are finding more and more of these in grey bins. Please make sure disposable nappies are thrown away in your black bin. Alternatively, try switching to reusable nappies – they're kinder to the environment and will save you money!

Nothing that's thrown away in Rutland goes straight to landfill. Recycling in grey bins is taken away to be separated and processed by a special company in Leicester - Casepak. Waste from black bins is used for energy recovery to heat shops and homes.