Recycle Week 2009 was launched today (June 22) with more than 330 events set to take place across the country over the next seven days, all pushing the theme 'Let's Waste Less'.

WRAP is using its consumer awareness campaign Recycle Now to publicise the Week, which runs from today until Sunday (June 28), and is encouraging people to 'pledge' online to reduce the amount of waste they create or to recycle more.

The week-long campaign which begins today has the theme 'Let's Waste Less

Laura Underwood from Recycle Now said: "Recycle Week is a great opportunity to remind us just how easy it is to waste less and reuse more of the things we buy. Not only does it help the environment, but it can also benefit our pockets."

Textiles

To mark the start of the week, the Defra-funded body has teamed up with Oxfam to launch a campaign highlighting the environmental and financial benefits of reducing the amount of textiles sent to landfill.

The campaign is aiming to make textile recycling as commonplace as glass, paper, can and plastic bottle recycling and to encourage householders to re-use old clothes where possible.

WRAP has also enlisted the services of celebrity stylist 'Mrs Jones', aka Fee Doran - who has styled Kylie Minogue - to get the message across.

She said: "I see the potential in re-using these things and can visualise the end result, which spurs me to take it apart and put it back together in a different way. I hope people get creative and recycle - this is the week to do it!"

Local authorities

Coca Cola has unveiled what it has claimed is the world's largest recycled artwork, in Sussex, to mark the start of Recycle Week

Many local authorities have also organised events to promote recycling (see letsrecycle.com story). The London borough of Lewisham will be giving advice to its residents from today from its Recycling Trailer at Lewisham Shopping Centre. Here visitors can also get advice about composting and garden waste disposal and or expectant parents can get information about using real nappies.

And, in Sussex, Coca Cola has unveiled what it claims is the world's largest recycled artwork. The 50 metre work, dubbed 'Precious Metal', was made from used aluminium cans to mark Recycle Week on the chalk hills of the Sussex coastline.

Liz Lowe, citizenship manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: "Old cans aren't just waste, they're precious metal. They can live forever through recycling, to be used time and time again to make a whole number of new things saving huge amounts of energy and raw materials."

Recycle Week has now been running for five years and WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin praised the success of the annual campaign.

She explained that since its inception more than 30 million tonnes of CO2 have been saved and said: "The theme for this year's Recycle Week is, ‘Let's Waste Less' and the week's activities are designed around the many, small ways we can each reduce our waste which, when taken together, makes a big difference.

"The good news is that two-thirds of us now consider ourselves committed recyclers, and we are currently recycling 34% of our household waste across the UK.

"From recycling more of our everyday items like glass and plastic bottles, to reducing our food waste, re-using carrier bags or trying out new things like home composting, there's a lot we can do to help cut back on the amount of waste we send to landfill," she added.