iStockA plea to organise a council Christmas toy drive in a bid to help recycling rates across Glasgow has been issued by a local councillor.
Maryhill councillor Franny Scally is calling on the city council to consider a toy exchange in future years which would allow parents to swap old gifts their children have outgrown for something else.
It comes as the city council approved its festive waste strategy for 2025/26 but concerns were still raised at the environment committee meeting about recycling rates in the run up to the festive season.
During the meeting, councillor Scally said: “I would be really interested to see the volume of rubbish we actually pick up in November, December and January as opposed to other months.
“I know that most people, at this time of year, get new household appliances and get rid of quite a lot of the old stuff.
“I would say that cardboard boxes are the biggest problem from people going to Amazon, buying new televisions, so there is probably more plastic and cardboard boxes.
“The amount of toys that children outgrow and are discarded are maybe plastic and I was just wondering if maybe one day we could maybe consider, instead of dumping them – exchanging them and having a toy exchange.
“That way some of the poor people who worry for months about how they are going to get their children’s Christmas presents could exchange old toys for another one.
“The toys would go to a better home and it would save us a lot of trouble.”
A council officer confirmed that there are two big waste streams at this time of year including cardboard and paper.
He said: “Everything gets delivered now in about two or three different boxes and wrapped in paper so paper and cardboard is a big issue.
“At this time of year we see a big clear out, especially in our recycling centres. Toys are something that hasn’t been picked up on and there is a lot of toy waste.
“We have been working with the Scottish Government on reuse. We are looking at where possible can we reuse things better.
“There are not really many local authorities that have got it done right but yet but it is something that will be built on moving forward.
“We will definitely take that on board as part of the recycling strategy on how we can reuse things better.”
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