All 16 recycling sites in Somerset - including at Poole, near Wellington, will be open on their usual winter hours over the Christmas and New Year period, except all close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

SWP managing director Mickey Green said: "Christmas inevitably creates waste but with some planning ahead you can keep it to a minimum and be ready to do the right thing with things that can be reused or recycled.

"Reducing, reusing and recycling saves carbon. That matters more than ever to many people and SWP is working hard to do its bit."

Separating recycling at the kerb is the best way to make sure it gets properly recycled and recycled close to home. Last year 97.8 per cent of Somerset’s recycling stayed in the UK thanks to kerbside sorting. See somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycling-tracker for more detail.