With news on: Scottish recycling data revised; LARAC takes joint ownership of OPRL; Greenredeem extends Windsor & Maidenhead link, and; Warwickshire slim bins campaign.
LARAC to take joint ownership of OPRL
The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) is to become a joint owner of OPRL, the packaging recycling label scheme.
OPRL Ltd operates the UK-wide On-Pack Recycling Label scheme used by over 500 brands. LARAC joins ACE UK, RECOUP and the British Retail Consortium as owners.
Plastic bottles with the ‘Widely Recycled’ status from OPRL’s Guidelines Review.
The OPRL label which is used on consumer product packaging, has three categories which tell consumers how likely it is that their local authority will accept specific packaging materials for recycling.
The categories include: ‘widely recycled’ where 75% or more of UK local authorities collect that type of packaging, ‘check local recycling’, between 20% and 75% of UK local authorities collect that type of packaging, and ‘not currently recycled’, where fewer than 20% of UK local authorities collect that type of packaging.
Commenting on the move Andrew Bird, chair of LARAC, said “This is a powerful development as local authorities and business come together to maximise effective recycling. By getting a clear and consistent recyclability message to the consumer both on-pack and in council communications to householders we have the best chance of increasing both volume and quality of councils’ recycling collections. We’ve started some joint working and I’m sure much more is to come as we all seek to make the best use of shrinking budgets.”
Jane Bevis, chair of OPRL Ltd added “This is a significant step in ensuring consistency of messaging, responding to WRAP’s recent report. We’re delighted that our links with other organisations promoting recycling continue to strengthen, and are particularly excited to bridge the public/private sector divide. It’s essential that customers hear consistent and clear messages, saving Council Tax costs and delivering significant environmental benefits against a background of public spending cuts.”
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Scotland revises council recycling data
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued revised figures showing that Scotland’s local authorities recycled a total of 44.2% of household waste collected in 2015.
Scotland’s recycling rate for 2015 has been revised
This was an increase of 1.4% points from the 42.8% waste recycled by Local Authorities in 2014, using unrounded data. However, the figure was amended down slightly – by 0.1% compared to figures published last month (see letsrecycle.com story).
Changes to the date include a downgrading of Aberdeenshire’s recycling rate – down 3.5 percentage points to 43.7%, whilst East Dunbartonshire’s recycling rate was revised down 5.6 percentage points to 50.7%.
Other figures have remained unchanged, and showed that Angus council achieved the highest combined recycling and composting rate, which was recorded as 59.2%, followed by Moray (57.4%) and East Renfrewshire (56.4%).
The previous top performer – Inverclyde – saw a drop in its overall recycling and composting rate from 56.8% in 2014 to 54.7% in 2015.
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Windsor & Maidenhead extends Greenredeem scheme
The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead and recycling rewards firm Greenredeem are to continue running a recycling incentive scheme in the borough for a further two years.
Recyclable materials are collected commingled from householders in Windsor
The scheme initially began as a trial in 2009 and was rolled out to all residents in the borough from September 2010. Around 56% of the borough’s households now participate in the reward scheme, Greenredeem claims.
Cllr Carwyn Cox, cabinet member for environmental services at the Royal Borough said, “We are looking forward to working with Greenredeem over the next two years to build the community further and encourage even more residents to recycle more”
Rob Crumbie, director of marketing & communications at Greenredeem, said: “We’re thrilled to be extending our partnership with the Royal Borough. Working together we’ve been able to really make a difference on so many fronts; increasing the amount of recycling collected, supporting the local economy during difficult economic conditions and enabling local good causes to undertake the great work that they are trying to implement in local communities.”
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Warwickshire works with Local Green Points on slim bins campaign
Warwickshire Waste Partnership has appointed Local Green Points to provide a rewards campaign to engage residents in positive recycling and waste behaviours.
The Slim Your Bin campaign will be launched in November 2016 to residents across the five Warwickshire waste collection authorities.
Artwork from a campaign to reduce food waste in Warwickshire
The campaign will target specific waste behaviours, including shifting material from the residual bin to the recycling bin, reducing contamination rates, educating residents about food waste and promoting waste minimisation.
Local Green Points is a specialist waste minimisation and recycling campaign provider, working with 15 councils in the UK to promote behaviour change.
Residents of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick will be able to get involved in the 18-month campaign to reduce the amount of residual waste they throw away.
Jeff Clarke, chair of the Warwickshire Waste Partnership and Warwickshire county council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “This is very good news that we are going to be encouraging residents across all our districts and boroughs to be even more green when it comes to separating their rubbish and their recycling. I look forward to seeing the impact that this rewards scheme makes.”
Councillor Philip Johnson, Chair of Warwickshire County Council’s Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee, said: “There is still work to be done in educating residents about the difference they can make by sorting their waste and preventing it from going to landfill. I would encourage everyone to have a go at ‘slimming their bin’.”
The post Local authority news round-up (11/10/2016) appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Packaging
