Manchester City and Trafford councils have also been given prizes, of 14,000 and 9,000 respectively, in the annual “Race to Recycle” awards, run by paper reprocessor UPM Shotton.
 Rewarded (left to right): Tony Robinson with Cllr June Reilly, Trafford; Cllr Mohammed Afzal Khan, Manchester; Cllr Frank White, Bolton; and Martin Green of UPM Shotton |
Collectively the councils sent 22,829 tonnes of paper for recycling at Shotton's paper mill in North Wales.
Now in their third year, the Race to Recycle awards recognise the paper recycling achievements of Greater Manchester's 10 councils. The Manchester area has managed to cut the 1.4 million tonnes of waste sent for disposal to 1.275,000 tonnes this year, partly thanks to paper recycling initiatives.
Commenting on his council's award, Bolton councillor Frank White, said: “We have lots of ideas on how to spend the prize money and we'll be consulting with local people to find a scheme of social and environmental benefit to the community, which provides a lasting tribute to the recycling efforts of everyone in Bolton.”
Prize fund
UPM Shotton puts 1 into a prize fund for every tonne of paper collected in Greater Manchester. This is then divided between the three most improved local authorities, to be invested in a project which is of benefit to the community or environment.
Councillors from the three councils were presented with the cheques by TV actor-turned-presenter Tony Robinson, in a ceremony held at Manchester United Football Club yesterday.
Martin Green, head of recovered paper procurement at UPM Shotton, said: “We've had a fantastic response from local authorities across Greater Manchester with paper recycling in the region increasing by 71% since the programme began in 2002.”
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