Have your ELF a GREEN Christmas Challenge Winner Crowned

Schools across Rhondda Cynon Taf have been taking part in a special challenge to ensure we all have our ‘ELF’ a GREEN Christmas.

We received over 260 entries to its ‘Have your ELF a GREEN Christmas Challenge’ and the submissions have been amazing.

The challenge, sent out to all primary schools across the County Borough, asked pupils to create their own GREEN Elf (pupils aged 3-7) or write a story about our environmentally friendly Green Elf’s adventures (pupils aged 8-11).

After much deliberation, the winner in each category was agreed as;

• Austin Lewis, Reception, Pontrhondda Primary School
• Maya Islam, Year 5, from Tonysguboriau Primary School

The winning schools will receive a £100 cash prize each. Austin and Maya will also receive a gift voucher of £20 for their green efforts.

The GREEN Elf arrived in Rhonda Cynon Taf earlier this month as part of the latest waste and recycling campaign to help residents find their inner green elves to recycle as much as possible over the festive period. The GREEN Elf has also been advising residents on the Council’s social media channels on what can and can’t be recycled and highlighting waste and recycling collection changes over Christmas and New Year.

Councillor Ann Crimmings, Cabinet Member for Environmental and Leisure Services who had the difficult task of choosing the winners, said:

“The entries received have been phenomenal. This has been one of the hardest competitions to choose a winner from, they were all brilliant. I have enjoyed reading about all the adventures the GREEN elf has been on in his bid to recycle more and help reduce Climate Change.

“I want to thank everyone who entered the challenge, and congratulations to our winters, Austin and Maya! I hope our green residents will keep up the great work and help us have the GREENEST, waste-free Christmas ever.

“Rhondda Cynon Taf Council encourages residents to keep up the excellent work all year round. The Council provides an accessible and innovative recycling service complemented by ongoing public education and awareness-raising.

“The support of our householders towards our food waste recycling has been amazing so far.

“Keep up the great work, and let’s all take the small steps to help fight Climate Change and make 2023 an even Greener New Year.”

Changes to collections over the Festive Period:

Your weekly collections for recycling, food, nappies and general waste will change during Christmas week.

Collections due on Monday 26th December will be collected on Tuesday 27th December and will skip a day all week -Tuesday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Thursday, Thursday to Friday, Friday to Saturday.

All refuse and recycling (including nappies and food waste recycling) should be placed at its collection point by 7am on your revised collection days.

Normal Collection Days	Revised Collection Days
Monday 26th December	Tuesday 27th December (Bank Holiday)
Tuesday 27th December	Wednesday 28th December
Wednesday 28th December	Thursday 29th December
Thursday 29th December	Friday 30th December
Friday 30th December	Saturday 31st December

There will be NO CHANGES to your weekly collections for recycling, food, nappies and black bag waste the following week, the week commencing Monday 2nd January (New Year week).

All refuse and recycling (including nappies and food waste recycling) should be placed at their usual collection point by 7am on your usual collection day.

Normal Collection Days	Revised Collection Days
Monday 2nd January	No change (Bank Holiday)
Tuesday 3rd January	No change
Wednesday 4th January	No change
Thursday 5th January	No change
Friday 6th January	No change

Other services such as bulky waste collections and delivery of wheelie bins/food waste bins will be suspended from the week commencing 26th December. This allows us to use as many resources as possible to collect the anticipated record amounts of Mighty recycling this Christmas.

Normal services will resume on Monday 9th January.

Real Christmas Tree Collections and Green Waste:

From 5th December, you can book ‘real’ Christmas trees for kerbside collection between 2nd January and 16th January 2023.

Residents must book their ‘real’ Christmas tree collections online at least 24 hours before their revised collection day as they won’t be automatically collected: www.rctcbc.gov.uk/ChristmasTrees

During the booking period, real Christmas trees can be placed out whole. However, trees over 4ft will have to be cut up so the crews can safely lift them. Please remove ALL lights and baubles beforehand.

The fortnightly green waste collection service (including ‘real’ Christmas trees not booked in for collection) will be suspended from the week commencing Monday 26th December. Normal collections resume on Monday 16th January 2023. Green waste, including real Christmas trees, can still be taken to your local CRCs (unbagged) throughout the festive period.

Please Note: Artificial Christmas trees can be taken to a Community Recycling Centre or booked in for a special collection if you want to dispose of them.

Please remember to place ALL refuse and recycling out before 7am on your collection or revised collection day and not before, as this can lead to spillages and difficulties for pedestrians using the pavement.

If we haven’t collected your refuse/recycling as planned, please leave it at the kerbside, as we may be working additional hours to clear a backlog. Our crews can work well into the evening during busy periods, and extra staff can sometimes be called in to remove the items the next day.

Residents can visit one of the many collection points across Rhondda Cynon Taf before the festive period to collect their recycling bags.

The Streetcare Team would also like to remind residents to park sensibly so that they can get the recycling truck down your street.

For more information and tips on recycling your Christmas waste follow us on Facebook or Twitter or visit www.rctcbc.gov.uk/christmasrecycling