Denise Van Outen caught up in recycling row

The campaign is seeking to promote the “glamorous” profile that recycling has recently gained by hiring former breakfast TV star Denise Van Outen to launch it.

Denise Van Outen is launching this year's recycling campaign, which has become embroiled in a row over quality

But paper recyclers – through industry body PaperChain – have pulled out from the campaign, saying the message it is promoting is not supporting the “long term sustainability of recycling”.

PaperChain has accused the multi-million pound government-funded “Recycle Now” campaign of failing to “actively or effectively” promote the need for householders to keep recycled material clean and free from contamination.

PaperChain is part of the Confederation of Paper Industries, whose members recycled three million tonnes of paper and cardboard in the UK last year. Recycle Now is run by WRAP, the government's recycling delivery body.

Green
Its chairman, Martin Green, said today: “Recycle Now Week should be used to focus public sector attention on quality and sustainability, rather than to simply continue to promote increased collection levels. It has been great that the number of committed recyclers has risen significantly through the initial years of the campaign, but the recycling levels achieved, and increases going forward, must be sustainable with developing end markets.

“This can only be achieved through effective quality management.

“The fantastic success in promoting recycling in initial years of the campaign will count for nothing if the material collected does not meet the needs of the re-processor and customer,” Mr Green said.

Van Outen
Now in its fourth year – in previous years known as “The Big Recycle” – Recycle Now Week is set to run from tomorrow until June 8, including a series of recycling-themed events around the country.

Commenting on the campaign, Ms Van Outen said: “I’ve been a keen recycler for several years, and it’s great to see that it’s no longer a minority activity. In fact, with everyone from George Clooney and Cameron Diaz to Lily Cole championing environmental issues, going green has never been more fashionable.”

”The fantastic success in promoting recycling in initial years of the campaign will count for nothing if the material collected does not meet the needs of the re-processor. “
– Martin Green, PaperChain
“Real Recycling”
PaperChain is the major funding source of the ongoing “Campaign for Real Recycling” calling for an end to the kind of local authority recycling collection schemes it says generates overly contaminated material. The campaign also has the support of major aluminium recyclers, glass recyclers and the community recycling sector.

The paper sector body said it had “serious concerns” with the increased use of mixed (commingled) recycling collections. It said that while there are some good sorting plants operating in the UK, materials recycling facilities “invariably end up generating recovered materials that are not up to the standards required for reprocessing without further sorting and cleaning.”

Mr Green said: “UK paper reprocessors are seeing some very poor quality recovered paper coming onto the market, and are unwilling to take the risk of using this material because of the negative impacts on the paper making process. The bottom line is that a paper mill cannot recycle tin cans, food, and plastics into new paper products. Poor quality is not sustainable recycling; it is unnecessary and avoidable waste. PaperChain has serious doubts as to the long term sustainability of recycling in the UK if the lack of focus on quality continues.”

PaperChain said it hoped the Recycle Now campaign message could be tailored to reflect some of its concerns, and that its “full support can be re-established in 2008”.

In a statement to letsrecycle.com, WRAP said today that PaperChain had first decided not to join Recycle Now Week back in March.

A spokesperson for the Banbury-based organisation said: “Recycle Now Week 2007 is all about raising public awareness of the importance of recycling, and encouraging consumers to recycle as much as they can, as often as they can.

“We recognise the importance of quality materials to the recycling industry and support the paper industry in its efforts to achieve this,” the WRAP spokesperson added.

“It is obviously disappointing that in March of this year, PaperChain chose not to participate in this June’s event. We hope to welcome PaperChain back to this consumer-focused event in 2008.”