Trade body British Glass, recycler URM and manufacturers Ardagh and Allied Glass have come together for a campaign that looks to capitalise on the ‘renewed recycling effort’ seen in Leeds throughout the pandemic.
The campaign will focus on encouraging residents to visit their local bottle banks, using analysis to identify areas to improve lower performing collection sites. Lockdown saw a 26% increase in glass recycling at bottle banks across Leeds, British Glass says.
Victoria Adams, communications manager at British Glass, said: “We’re delighted to launch a campaign that not only focuses on a geographical area close to the heart of glass manufacturing but also brings together local manufacturers, recyclers and Zero Waste Leeds to collaborate on a campaign we all hope to benefit from.
“The amount of recycling taking place at bottle banks across Leeds during the pandemic has been encouraging and we wanted to keep this momentum going, particularly as many people appear to have got into new recycling habits over the last 12 months and with the impending lifting of lockdown restrictions.”
“The amount of recycling taking place at bottle banks across Leeds during the pandemic has been encouraging”
The campaign is currently in the analysis phase and will look to launch in May.
Leeds
With a population of more than 790,000, Leeds had a household waste recycling rate of 38.2% in 2019/20.
Glass can be recycled at more than 700 recycling banks across the city. Leeds city council says it is working on plans to introduce kerbside collections for glass by 2023.
Rob Greenland, director of Zero Waste Leeds, said: “We’re very excited to be working with the glass industry on this project, part of which will be to tell a great Yorkshire circular economy story. That glass, an infinitely recyclable and sustainable product, is collected by a local company from one of over 700 glass banks across our city and transferred to one of the many glass manufacturers is a great starting point.
“A big part of what we bring to our work is that we are rooted in this city, and we’re aware of what makes it unique. We’ve got relationships with communities built up over many years and ready access to local recycling data. We take a real place-based approach to campaigns like this one that strive to change behaviour for the better. We’re really looking forward to getting started and building on the big increase in glass recycling over the last year.”
“We have over 700 glass banks…” – you could have double that and it still would not be good enough compared to providing glass bins/boxes for every household. This campaign sounds like a classic case of “all talk, no action” and a total waste of time if they are not providing glass bins for all. Why does it have to take “by 2023?”. Many Leeds residents must live in apartments or do not drive – it is unrealistic to expect them to transport their glass to the bank themselves. At least neighbouring Kirklees is rolling out glass recycling in the next year or so – perhaps a joint effort should be considered if it might make it cheaper for all.