The council is one of an increasing number of local authorities using a prize draw scheme to encourage householders to take part in the town's kerbside recycling service.
For the next six months, a regular draw will see council officers visiting a random address to see if the household has put out its kerbside box for recycling. If so, the household will be awarded 100 in vouchers for the local Metrocentre shopping mall.
The council will also be picking out recycling sites, where the first person to arrive with materials to recycle will be awarded vouchers.
Councillor Michael McNestry, cabinet member for the local environment at Gateshead Council, explained: “Now that we have made recycling more convenient to residents, we encourage them to continue to use their Kerb-it box. It can often take a long time to change people's behaviour but we hope the Metrocentre voucher scheme will act as both a reminder and an incentive to people to sort their rubbish.”
Kerb-it
The council and its waste contractor, Premier Waste Management, introduced the 2.7 million Kerb-it system in 2003 (see letsrecycle.com story) along with neighbouring South Tyneside council. So far, 84,000 households have been able to recycle their paper glass and cans each fortnight on the scheme. Since the Kerb-it scheme began , Gateshead residents have recycled over 5,000 tonnes of paper, 2,500 tonnes of glass and 450 tonnes of cans.
All households in the city are offered the service – and can take part in the prize draw – but residents in flats are not on the kerbside scheme and are being encouraged by the council to use nearby recycling centres, which are also on the prize draw scheme.
The first couple to win a prize in the new draw was Mr and Mrs Fear of Whickham, who had been on holiday but had had their son put out their kerbside box in their absence. Mrs Fear said: “We put the Kerb-it box out for collection every fortnight. It's a good way to get rid of our glass, paper and tins. It took a while to get into the habit of using it every day but we're pleased we did today.”
Environment minister Elliot Morley recently praised councils that are looking to encourage householders to recycle through prize draw incentive schemes (see letsrecycle.com story). Defra is currently investigating options for influencing householder behaviour, with a particular emphasis on incentives. It has been looking at systems abroad, and is shortly to consult local authorities on trialling new systems.
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