With Recycle Week less than a week away, councils around the country are preparing for the week-long event to raise awareness of recycling and waste issues.
Taking place between 25 September and 1 October, Recycle Week is organised by resource charity WRAP under the Recycle Now brand.
WRAP’s theme this year is ‘Recycling – It’s worth it!’ and is intended to give local authorities and others “the opportunity to bust some myths and really show the benefits of recycling” (see letsrecyle.com story).
This year the campaign will be broader in its approach than in 2016, to help people understand the benefits of recycling and what materials come back as, the charity says.
London
In London, the Resource London programme, created by WRAP and London Waste and Recycling Board, has awarded eight grants worth £60,000 to 16 boroughs.
The boroughs, which include Hackney, Islington, Western Riverside Waste Authority, East London Waste Authority and South London Waste Partnership, will use the grants to amplify the national campaign to their residents.
“Some are using the animations and boosting them locally, some of them are using print materials to out-of-home advertising and press advertising. Some are doing pop-up events with banners and leaflets with Recycle Week artwork on there,” said Ali Moore, communications and behaviour change manager at Resource London.
Speaking on the national Recycle Week campaign, Ms Moore said: “In London, we do our own thing”. Instead the programme focuses on working on London-specific challenges, such as low recycling rates among young adults in inner urban areas.
Scotland
Glasgow Warriors rugby star Stuart Hogg has teamed up with Zero Waste Scotland to urge people to become a waste warrior for Recycle Week.
So far, about 300 Scottish businesses, groups and organisations have become a waste warrior and recycle more.
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland said: “We have plenty of materials available that will help Scotland’s local authorities, businesses and organisations increase awareness of some of the most commonly believed ‘myths’ surrounding recycling and hope that our messages will urge Scots to up the ante and recycle more.
“While recycling in Scotland has vastly improved over the past few years, there is definitely still more that can be done. Next week is the perfect opportunity for everyone to become a ‘waste warrior’ and play their part.”
Around the UK
In Northern Ireland, Lisburn and Catslereagh city council has launched a free ‘Binformation’ app to help residents recycle more and waste less.
The app provides residents with a list of household waste materials, explaining what can and cannot be recycled, as well as bin collection days and directions to the nearest recycling centre.
It also provides recycling and waste reduction tips, news and notifications of changes to collection services during holiday periods and adverse weather.
Councillor Janet Gray, vice-chair of the council’s environmental services committee, said: “Residents may not be aware that if a recycling collection vehicle contains items that cannot be recycled, then the cost to the council for processing the waste is higher and in some cases the entire load may have to be sent to landfill, which costs even more. By using the Binformation app our residents can help improve the quality of recyclable material and play their part in protecting our environment and reducing waste management costs.”
And in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, the Norfolk Waste Partnership is focusing on giving your “recycling a little bit of love – or in other words – make sure it’s clean, dry and don’t bag it when to goes into the recycling bin”.
The local authority will reinforce this message in a leaflet distributed to every Norfolk home along with posters, radio, television adverts and website information.
Cllr Fisher, chair of the Norfolk Waste Partnership, said: “Getting recycling right is everyone’s responsibility.
“All of our councils and crews work hard to empty our bins and when they find a recycling bin full of unwashed food containers and in many instances, used nappies and even pet food, it can be soul-destroying. It is especially unpleasant for the people at our Material Recovery Facility (MRF) who hand-sort Norfolk’s recycling material.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com General