Councils gear up for Recycle Week 2011

Councils across the UK are preparing to encourage recycling both Home and Away during Recycle Week 2011 which kicks off on Monday (June 20).

The week-long campaign runs until Friday June 26 and is the seventh annual initiative of its kind.

Traditionally,Recycle Weekhas focused on raising awareness around domestic recycling in general but this year is based on the theme of Home and Away in a bid to encourage increased awareness of recycling-on-the-go as well (see letsrecycle.com story).

Across the UK, local authorities have already set out what they intend to do during the week. For example, the Leicestershire Waste Partnership is holding a series of road shows across the county to discuss with residents how to recycle more.

Meanwhile, Sheffield city council and its waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services will be using the week to highlight the launch of the citys revamped green sack service. The service is for those areas of the city that do not have a green bin and allows residents to use green sacks to recycle garden waste.

Leaflets about the service will be issued to residents in the relevant areas over the next three weeks, with Sheffield and Veolia holding Recycling Road Shows for interested residents. And, Veolia will also be holding composting tutorials.

Simon Heathcote, recycling assistant at Veolia Environmental Services in Sheffield and one of the demonstrators of home composting at the road shows, said: Approximately 20% of the average household’s rubbish is made up of green garden waste.

If this waste ends up in the black bin, a valuable resource that could be turned into compost is wasted. Were going to be out and about during Recycle Week to promote the benefits of recycling that green garden waste and to keep gardens across the city looking beautiful.

Widespread

Central Bedfordshire council has outlined a variety of initiatives that will be undertaken over the course of the week aimed at householders, schools and work places. These range from making use of household waste and recycling centres to getting companies to think more readily about recycling.

Cllr Brian Spurr, executive member for sustainable communities services at Central Bedfordshire council said: “Recycle Week is all about taking the smallest actions and changes every day, all of which have a cumulative effect to help our environment.

“Residents in Central Bedfordshire are already doing a great job within their homes, it is also about transferring that mentality wherever we are, be it out on a picnic during the summer months, at work or travelling about. Dont just put rubbish in the bin, think about what could be recycled or composted first.

The local authority praised the work already being undertaken by retailers to help address recycling, through measures such as carrier bag recycling schemes, coat hanger take-back schemes and increased efforts among supermarket cafes to recycle food waste.

Bin it, dont bag it

The Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) which represents five Merseyside local authorities and Halton borough council is using Recycle Week to highlight the unwanted items that residents are placing in recycling bins and bags.

Under the title Bin it, dont bag it, the MWDA has catalogued some of the more bizarre items collected from kerbside recycling schemes across the region and has called on residents to make sure they know what can be recycled in their area.

From syringes and needles to bags of animal excrement and a car exhaust, the MWDA is seeking to clamp down on potentially contaminating materials being collected.

Councillor Kevin Cluskey, chair of the MWDA, said: Contamination in a recycling load can lead to portions of collected recyclables having to be landfilled, which is not what we want at all. If people stick to what their local council says can go in their recycling container then hopefully well see a reduction in contaminated loads, and less wasted efforts. Our message is bin it, but dont bag it.

Elsewhere, the London borough of Lambeth is laying bare its recycling operations in order to help better inform residents over where their recyclable material goes.

Social media

The Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) is going to chart its effort during the week with a Recycle Week Blog, which will feature contributions from staff and comedian Dave Spikey whofronts the GMWDAs promotional campaigns.

In addition, the GMWDA is launching a Sort It, Share and Shout school competition for primary and secondary school students. The competition will see students charged with designing and producing an assembly on recycling with 4,500 being issued to the two winning primary and secondary schools.

At the core of its efforts, the GMWDA has also launched a recycling pledge, which calls on residents to commit to recycling more and wasting less by signing up online.

Householders who sign up are also entered into a prize draw with a top prize of 100 of shopping vouchers.

Open day

On Tuesday (June 21), Lambeth is inviting residents to look round the Smugglers Way materials recycling facility in Wandsworth. The 25 million project, which is operated by the Western Riverside Authority, was officially opened in March this year by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne (see letsrecycle.com story).

Councillor Lorna Campbell, cabinet member for environment and sustainability at Lambeth, said: “It’s vital we all recycle as much as we can because recycling saves money as well as helping the environment.

Recycling is very much on the agenda in Lambeth and I hope there will be plenty of interest from people keen to see what happens to their recycling once it is collected from their home.”