The 'Recycle on the Go' documents aim to make it easier for councils, businesses and any other organisations that are responsible for both outdoor and indoor public spaces to make recycling easier and more accessible.
Launching the project today (June 2) at the start of a three month recycling bin pilot scheme by the Royal Parks in London's Hyde Park, waste and recycling minister Joan Ruddock said: “We need to take recycling beyond the office and home, into our public spaces – that's what this initiative is about.”
“We know that most canned and bottled drinks are consumed outside the home, when people are out and about. Even the most dedicated recycler is unlikely to take these home with them and add them to their household recycling.
And, outlining the goals of the initiative, she said: “Recycle on the Go is about making recycling a natural part of everyday life no matter where people are. But the bigger issue here is about pushing a behaviour change around how people dispose of litter when they're away from home.”
Voluntary
The managers of both public and private places – including local authorities – are able to sign up for the voluntary code of practice online, with the document, and its accompanying good practice guide, being built around four key guiding principles.
These include: providing recycling facilities, as well as opportunities for the “correct” disposal of non-recyclable waste; adopting standard signage on all receptacles, using Recycle Now branding where possible; maintenance and upkeep of the bins; and, the reuse, recycling or composting of all materials collected.
Further information provided within the good practice guide takes organisations through the various stages of planning, managing, promoting and assessing the effectiveness of the on-the-go recycling bins they provide.
As such it deals with issues such as deciding which materials to collect and recycle, arranging a waste collection contract, managing the contamination of materials and establishing management processes for the bins.
The launch of Recycle on the Go comes as a result of a Defra consultation on on-the-go recycling which closed November 2007, with the department's March 2008 response to the process committing to make both guides available.
The scheme follows hot on the heels of last month's launch of a new three-year initiative by Coca Cola Enterprises and the Waste & Resources Action Programme that aims to provide 80 'Recycling Zones' in public places over the next three years (see letsrecycle.com story).
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