A Look at the Holiday Spike in Recycling in Nashville, Tenn.

The days after Christmas are the biggest culprits, says Sharon Smith with Metro Public Works.

"There's more of everything," she says. "People have had stuff mailed to them. Obviously, there's gift exchange."

Part of that spike comes from the influx of cardboard boxes. Part also comes from wrapping paper on gifts: Americans bought $7.5 billion dollars worth of it this year, according to Sundale Research.

But even though Metro's recycling service does accept most wrapping paper, some industry experts don't recommend it. Compared to normal paper, gift wrap is particularly low quality: It's thin and inky, so it's often more trouble than it's worth for a paper mill to extract the fibers.