Donegal County Council Launches Christmas Climate Action Campaign
Christmas typically sees a surge in waste generation and Donegal County Council is encouraging everyone to adopt sustainable practices throughout the festive season.
By preventing waste, reusing resources and recycling responsibly Donegal residents can take simple steps toward a more environmentally sustainable future. The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle multilingual pocket guide offers practical tip that make a big difference
Donegal County Council has prepared advice to help you to manage your waste this festive season, when excess packaging and food waste are higher than normal.
- Choose items with less packaging and opt for products with minimal or recyclable packaging
- Try reuseable Christmas Crackers this year or try to make your own!
- Reduce Food Waste by planning your meals, make a shopping list and stick to it to avoid overbuying. Use leftovers creatively as simple steps save money and cut waste.
- Did you know that according to the EPA, each household in Ireland wastes €700 worth of food per year! Find more tips at StopFoodWaste.ie
- Thoughtful gifting by choosing gifts with less packaging, consider eco-friendly options or give experiences instead. Buying locally produced gifts and food supports local businesses and reduces transport emissions.
- Visit charity shops for unique finds that support good causes and help reduce consumption.
This festive season make sure you recycle correctly. In your recycling bin at home, you can place paper and card (including wrapping paper and Christmas cards), food tins and cans and all plastic packaging including soft plastics. Always ensure items are clean, dry and loose before putting them in the bin.
Don’t forget your brown bin for food waste! Use it for vegetable peelings, leftovers and plate scrapings. Composting helps reduce landfill waste and creates nutrient rich soil.
For full details on what goes into your recycling and brown bins, visit MyWaste.ie
You can recycle a wide range of materials at one of the County’s 6 Recycling Centres located at: Letterkenny, Milford, Stranorlar, Carndonagh, Laghey and Dungloe managed by Bryson Recycling. These centres accept a wide range of materials for recycling, with many items collected free of charge and some requiring a small fee.
Our Recycling Centres will have some changes to their opening hours over the festive season. Please plan ahead to recycle your Christmas waste responsibly. Below are the details for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day and New Year’s Day, along with normal operating times for other days.
Christmas & New Year Opening Hours –2025 to 2026
- Letterkenny, Milford and Carndonagh (only three Recycling Centres open) will close at 1pm Wednesday 24th December (Christmas Eve)
- All Recycling Centres will be closed Thursday 25th December (Christmas Day), Friday 26th December (St Stephens Day) and Thursday 1st January 2026 (New Years Day)
- Saturday 27th December - All sites open
- All sites are open as normal all other days.
For full details on your local Recycling Centre, accepted items, charges and opening hours opening can visit here
Did you know that anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled for free? Through the WEEE Ireland take back programme, you can recycle old and broken electrical appliances at no cost.
Simply bring your electrical waste to your local Donegal Recycling Centre or participating electrical retailers.
WEEE Ireland has an interactive map to help you find your nearest participating retailers and electrical waste can be brought to your local Recycling Centres www.brysonrecycling.org Recycling electrical waste ensures valuable materials are recovered and hazardous substances are disposed of safely, supporting a circular economy and protecting the environment.
There are also 70 bring bank locations across Donegal where you can recycle your glass bottles and jars free of charge. Christmas is one of the busiest times for these services so plan ahead. Extra servicing will be in place where necessary over the Christmas period. If a bring bank is full, please do not leave materials at the banks as this is considered illegal dumping carrying a €150 fine.
Click here to find your nearest Bring Bank location and learn more about recycling in Donegal
This Christmas don’t forget to use Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers. When you buy drinks in plastic bottles or aluminium cans with the Re-turn logo, you pay a small deposit that you can reclaim by returning the empty container.
You can return bottles and cans at participating retailers using Reverse Vending Machines. Make sure containers are empty, undamaged and have the label intact.
Find your nearest return point using the interactive map at Re-turn.ie and help keep valuable materials in the recycling loop this festive season.
Remember - Bring Banks are for glass bottles and jars (and sometimes aluminium cans), not plastic bottles. Plastic bottles and aluminium cans with the Re-turn logo should be returned through the Deposit Return Scheme at participating retailers to reclaim your deposit and ensure proper recycling
In the New Year when the decorations are coming down don’t forget to recycle your natural Christmas trees for free at one of the 16 collection points across the Donegal. This service will be operating from Saturday 3rd January until Saturday 24th January 2026 and is for domestic trees only.
