NATCHEZ — Once the presents are opened and holiday meals are eaten, don’t let the Grinch steal landfill space with Christmas-generated waste.

As the first Christmas season the Miss-Lou has a recycling program begins unwrapping, Jim Smith with Concordia Metal said the recycling program will be able to accept most holiday trash.

“We accept all Christmas wrapping paper and cardboard,” he said. “You can put it in the recycling bin along with everything else.”

The plastic used for windows in cardboard boxes needs to be removed before the boxes are placed in a recycling container, Smith said.

Plastic film and plastic bags likewise aren’t appropriate for recycling.

“The only plastics we can accept are bottles and jugs,” he said. “Some of the plastic on those boxes has a No. 1 on it, but really it can go in the trash.”

Smith said burned out Christmas lights should be taken to the Judge George W. Armstrong library. The library is recycling the Christmas lights to raise money to buy a new set of student encyclopedias for its children’s department.

Recycling pickup won’t be made today in Natchez or Vidalia.

Pickup will resume New Year’s Day in Natchez, but will not start again in Vidalia until Jan. 8.