Can you burn your Christmas tree, wrapping paper or boxes in a log burner?

No. You should not burn your Christmas tree, wrapping paper or cardboard boxes in a log burner. Fire service advice is to never put tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood burning stove, and to never burn cardboard boxes or wastepaper. Recycle them instead. Every council in our area takes real trees after Christmas, and most wrapping paper and cardboard can go in your recycling bin.

What you can and cannot burn at Christmas

Sources for the table: Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Sefton Council, Defra.

Can you burn a Christmas tree in a log burner?

No. Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service's Christmas advice is clear: never put tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood burning stove. It says the best way to dispose of a tree is to take it to a recycling centre or have it collected.

There is a fuel problem too. A Christmas tree was cut only weeks ago, so it is fresh wood. Defra's guide to stoves and open fires says freshly chopped wood should be left to dry for up to two years, and that wet wood creates smoke and harmful particulates and can damage your stove and chimney. Wood is dry enough to burn at 20% moisture or less, and our guide to log moisture content explains how to check.

If you want to keep the trunk for firewood, cut it, split it and store it under cover like any other fresh wood, and test it before you burn it. For most people, recycling the whole tree is easier.

Can you burn Christmas tree wood in a fire pit?

It is still fresh, so it will smoke. Defra points out that most garden waste will not be dry and can give off a lot of smoke, and suggests your council's disposal scheme or composting instead. If you do have a garden fire, GOV.UK says your council can act on smoke that becomes a statutory nuisance. Our guide to the best wood for a fire pit covers what burns well outdoors.

Can you burn wrapping paper in a log burner?

No. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service lists never burn cardboard boxes or wastepaper among its tips for preventing chimney fires. A local news report from Christmas Day 2022 described firefighters in Harrogate being called to a chimney fire where paper burnt on a log burner had caused excess draw up the chimney. The house shared its flue with next door, so crews had to check both homes. Our guide to how often to sweep your chimney lists the warning signs of a chimney fire.

Foil and glitter paper is not even plain paper, and Sefton Council says it cannot be recycled. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service warns that burning household waste can cause toxic fumes in the home and is a fire risk, and Defra says household rubbish can give off harmful fumes and toxic pollutants when burned.

What to do with wrapping paper instead

Sefton Council's advice is that most wrapping paper can be recycled, but foil paper and paper with glitter cannot. If you are not sure, scrunch it into a ball. If it stays scrunched and does not spring back, it is likely to be recyclable. Foil and glitter paper goes in general waste. Check your own council's bin guide for the details.

Can you burn cardboard in a log burner?

No, for the same reasons. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service says never burn cardboard boxes, and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service lists cardboard alongside plastics and household rubbish as things not to burn in a stove or open fire.

Most cardboard packaging can go in your recycling bin. Sefton Council says to remove plastic windows, staples and sticky tape first, because they stop the cardboard being recycled.

What to do with your real Christmas tree in Merseyside and West Lancashire

Every council here has a way to take your tree. Dates change every year, so check the council's page before you go. Merseyside's recycling centres, run by the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Liverpool

Liverpool City Council has run drop-off points for real trees in January in recent years. For example, in January 2026 there were 13 drop-off points across the city, open from 2 to 23 January, in parks including Sefton Park, Newsham Park, Croxteth Park and Calderstones Park. Look for the council's announcement before Christmas for this winter's sites. You can also take a tree to the recycling centres at Old Swan and Otterspool, which accept garden clippings and wood. See our Liverpool delivery page.

Sefton: Southport, Formby and Crosby

Sefton Council says real Christmas trees can be recycled at any recycling centre in the borough. The Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority runs Southport, Formby, Sefton Meadows and South Sefton. Local pages: Southport, Formby, Crosby.

Wirral: Birkenhead, Heswall and West Kirby

If you pay for Wirral's brown bin, it takes real Christmas trees chopped into smaller pieces to fit inside the bin. There are no brown bin collections over Christmas and New Year, so the tree waits for the first collection after the break. You can also take it to Bidston, Clatterbridge or West Kirby recycling centres. Local pages: Birkenhead, Heswall, West Kirby.

West Lancashire: Ormskirk and Rufford

West Lancashire Borough Council's advice to brown bin subscribers is to cut up a real tree and put it in your brown bin. Brown bins are not emptied over Christmas and New Year: for example, the 2025/26 calendar had no collections between 23 December 2025 and 2 January 2026. You can subscribe to the garden waste service on the council's website. Lancashire County Council runs the recycling centres at Burscough and Skelmersdale. Local pages: Ormskirk, Rufford.

A reminder if you live in a smoke control area

The whole of Wirral is a smoke control area, and so are parts of Liverpool and Sefton. GOV.UK says that in one, you cannot release smoke from a chimney unless you burn an authorised fuel or use an exempt appliance. Wrapping paper, cardboard and fresh tree branches all make smoke. Our guide to smoke control areas in Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral explains the rules and how to check your address.

Staying safe with a stove at Christmas

• Keep the tree away from the stove. Warwickshire Fire and Rescue says not to place a tree close to a heat source, including a fireplace, because the heat dries it out and makes it easier to ignite.
• No decorations over the fire. The same advice says not to put decorations immediately above or around the fireplace, because paper and cardboard decorations burn easily.
• Keep wrapping paper, cards and candles apart. Merseyside Fire and Rescue advises keeping candles away from decorations, cards and wrapping paper, fires, lights and heaters.
• Store logs away from the stove. Merseyside Fire and Rescue says to store fuel away from the appliance so it cannot catch fire, use a fire guard, and make sure embers are out before bed.
• Test your alarms. Merseyside Fire and Rescue asks everyone to test smoke alarms over Christmas. If you have a stove, you should have a carbon monoxide alarm too. See do I need a carbon monoxide alarm with a log burner?

Common mistakes

• Clearing the wrapping paper into the stove on Christmas Day. It is quick, but it is a fire risk and it makes smoke.
• Feeding the tree in a branch at a time. The fire service advice covers branches and needles, not just the whole tree.
• Burning boxes to save space in the bin. Flatten them and recycle them.
• Leaving the tree right next to the log burner. Heat dries it out and makes it easier to catch fire.
• Not checking the council's dates. Collection breaks and drop-off dates change each winter.

Questions people ask

Can I burn tissue paper or newspaper in my log burner?

A couple of sheets of newspaper, crumpled up to light the fire, is one of the lighting methods HETAS describes. That is very different from burning a bag of used paper. Fire service advice is never to burn wastepaper. See how to light a log burner for lighting with less smoke.

Can I burn Christmas tree wood next year?

If the trunk has been cut, split and stored under cover until it tests at 20% moisture or less, it can be burned like other dry wood. Defra says fresh wood can take up to two years to dry. Never burn the needles or small branches.

When do the council Christmas tree collections start?

They vary by council and by year. Liverpool announced its drop-off points in late December in each of the last two winters. The council pages linked above are the best place to check. Recycling centres take trees throughout, except on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Is it illegal to burn wrapping paper?

We have not found a law that bans it in a stove at home. In a smoke control area, though, making smoke from your chimney can lead to a fine, and fire services advise against burning wastepaper anyway.

Keep the stove going over Christmas

If the stove is on most of the holidays, it pays to have dry fuel in before Christmas week. Our kiln-dried logs are moisture-tested to 20% or below. A Large Bag covers regular use, and a bag of kindling with a box of firelighters makes lighting easy. Delivery is free across Merseyside, Sefton, Wirral and West Lancashire.