THEY were sent as festive greetings - now they are being recycled for the good of the planet.

Staff at York-based building firm Shepherd Construction put their Christmas cards to good use when they gave more than 100 kilograms worth to the Woodlands Trust Card Recycling Scheme.

Craig Kirkcaldy, quality and environmental advisor for the firm, handed in the cards to WH Smith at Monks Cross Shopping Centre in York.

Meanwhile, York residents recycled the equivalent of 10,000 Christmas trees in the wake of the festive season.

That rounded off a record- breaking week, which saw more than 260 tonnes of recyclable waste collected - the largest amount collected in a single week since collections started four years ago.

Statistics released today showed City of York Council's neighbourhood services team collected 101 tonnes of garden waste when collections resumed in the first week of January, most of which was made up of used Christmas trees.

A further 44 tonnes of garden waste was also taken to the household waste recycling centres for composting.

Every year about eight million Christmas trees are bought in the UK to decorate homes during the festive period and most are thrown away in January.

Geoff Derham, head of waste services at the council said: "By recycling Christmas trees residents can make a real difference to the amount of rubbish which ends up in landfill and people can either put their trees in their garden waste bin or take them along to one of the household waste recycling centres for recycling.

"However, it's even better to buy a living Christmas tree, which can be dug up and used year after year to decorate the home.

"We are absolutely delighted by the efforts of residents."

Woodland's card recycling scheme continues until Wednesday. Cards can be taken to WH Smith, TK Maxx and Tesco stores.