Recycling at Easter

Try making your own decorations instead of buying brand new ones. You could create an Easter tree from a few branches and decorated egg shells.

Hold a zero-waste egg hunt - use baskets or bags you already have (or shop second hand). Hide decorated stones around the house and garden for the kids to find. Painting the stones is a great way to keep them entertained beforehand too. Create a scavenger hunt with clues and give an Easter egg at the end (instead of hiding lots of eggs).

Easter egg boxes can be put in your recycling bin at home; remove any ribbon or glitter parts first.

Foil needs to be scrunched together to about the size of a tennis ball and then put in your recycling bin at home.

Any soft plastic can be taken to most large supermarkets. You can also check the Waste Wizard which has thousands of items listed to help you repair, reuse or recycle household items or find out which bin to use.

The UK creates almost 8,500 tonnes of food waste at Easter in total. This includes:

• 8 million hot cross buns wasted
• 5 million slices of leftover roast meat
• 19 million leftover potatoes
• 20 million leftover portions of vegetables

You can view a great portion planner from 'Love Food, Hate Waste' where you can select the type of food you're cooking and the number of people you are catering for. 

Did you know you can freeze chocolate (either left over, to make it last longer, or to stop the temptation!). Follow these steps for best results:

• pop it in an air tight container
• let it cool in the fridge for about an hour first

When it comes time to defrost, pop it in the fridge overnight to allow it to defrost slowly.

Here are a few recipes to use up any leftovers:

• hot cross bun pudding
• leftover lamb pie
• leftover Easter recipes on BBC Good Food 

Food that can't be eaten can be recycled. Lamb bones, vegetable peelings and coffee grounds can all be recycled at home. The weekly food recycling service makes it easier than ever. You can also use spare plastic bags to line your caddy too, like bread or salad bags.

Find out more about your food recycling.

In 2026, the Easter bank holidays are on:

• Friday 3 April (Good Friday)
• Monday 6 April (Easter Monday)

There will be no bin collections on these days so remember to check you bin day.

All 10 Buckinghamshire Council Household Recycling Centres will be open over the Easter weekend, including Bank Holidays. Find your nearest recycling centre.