With the countdown to Christmas well and truly underway many of us will be frantically wrapping presents, dashing to the supermarket to collect sprouts for Christmas dinner, and working out the table plan for the crackers.

But what about when all the presents are unwrapped, just dirty plates remain from the turkey and trimmings and the decorations are taken off the tree? What do you do with all that rubbish?

First the good news – as Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on Saturday and Sunday this year there will be no changes to rubbish and recycling collection days. If your rubbish is due to be collected on the bank holidays of December 27, 28 and January 3 then put it out as normal as collections will continue, although collection times may vary.

Cornwall Council is encouraging people to recycle as much of their Christmas waste as they can this year and have provided handy hints to help you do this.

First up, what can you recycle? Christmas cards, envelopes and wrapping paper can all be recycled – provided they are made of paper or cardboard – and should be placed in your orange recycling bag for cardboard.

However make sure you remove any ribbon, foil, glitter, plastic film, tinsel, and bubble wrap as these cannot be recycled.

Similarly do not put any batteries out for collection with your rubbish or recycling as they can start fires when crushed in rubbish trucks or at waste transfer stations.

If you have any batteries to dispose of then take them along to your local supermarket or Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) which collect them for recycling. For details of where to recycle batteries go to recyclenow.com

So, what else can you recycle from the Christmas period? Cream pots, brandy sauce pots, Christmas pudding basins, sweet tubs, mince pie trays, and the plastic inserts from advent calendars can all go into your red recycling bag for plastic, cans and tins.

And of course, all cardboard can be recycled using your orange bags but make sure you flatpack any boxes and remove any sticky tape. Brown paper from parcels can also be placed into your orange recycle bag.

And lastly, the centrepiece for most festive decorations, the Christmas tree. If you have a real Christmas tree which you need to dispose of then it will be collected if it is under 6ft tall. If your tree is larger then cut it into two parts. Remember to remove all decorations.

If you subscribe to Cornwall Council's garden waste collection service then put your Christmas tree out for collection on your normal garden waste collection day.

But if you don't subscribe to that service place your tree out for collection on your usual rubbish collection day between Monday January 10 and Friday January 14. Alternatively you can take your trees to your local HWRC. All trees which are collected will be shredded and composted.

HWRCs across Cornwall will be open during the festive period from 9am to 4pm but will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day.

For full details of Cornwall Council's recycling and waste services over Christmas and more advice about recycling click here.

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