Waste Aware North East which promotes recycling in the region has teamed up with Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Northumberland councils to give residents who recycle these materials the opportunity to win a share of 10,000 worth of prizes.
In Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland, aerosols and glass jars are being targeted, whereas the scheme will focus on aerosols and hard plastic bottles in Northumberland. These materials have been chosen because while recycling facilities are provided for them, participation rates are currently low.
From December 1 2011 until July 2012, residents that live in any of the five participating areas can register online or over the phone for a pack to be sent in the post including personalised stickers that are unique to their address. The stickers must then be applied to their empty glass jars or aerosols (empty hard plastic bottles or aerosols in Northumberland) before being placed into their kerbside recycling bins provided by the council ready for the usual collection.
Each month one winner from each participating local authority area will be selected at random and will be able to choose a prize from a list that includes a laptop computer, games console or MP3 player with accessories. Alternatively, residents can choose to donate their prize to a local community group of their choice, or use the money available to contribute toward something of that groups choice, such as a day out.
As announced in November 2011, Waste Aware North East has received 93,000 in funding from Defras Household Reward and Recognition fund to help fund the scheme (see letsrecycle.com story). Competition prizes, meanwhile, are being funded by producer compliance and recycling company Valpak and provided in conjunction with one of its members, online clothing retailer thehut.com.
Sue McClellan, coordinating the scheme for Waste Aware North East, said: It is understood that many householders are not aware that aerosols can be recycled. It is also believed that many people are probably reluctant to rinse glass jars and recycle them. We hope that this initiative will help to inform people that these items can and should be recycled and that it will encourage residents to continue to recycle these items after the campaign comes to an end.
Waste Aware North East developed out of the North East Regional Waste Awareness Initiative (NERWAI) partnership with the aim of raising awareness of waste issues and recycling opportunities in the region. The partnership brings togetherlocal authorities in the region, the Environment Agency, WRAP, Groundwork North East, SITA, Premier Waste Management, Procter & Gamble, Valpak, DTAand VONNE.
Delighted
James Skidmore, Valpak service development manager, has been coordinating this project together with the five local authorities and Waste Awareness North East.
He said: Valpak are delighted to be involved in the North East recycling rewards scheme. Through our popular consumer facing recycle-more.co.uk website, we promote the importance of recycling and highlight that there are recycling routes for a number of different materials. We are therefore pleased to be so actively involved in an initiative that encourages people to recycle more of their waste packaging.
Residents of the North East are generally very good recyclers, but as is seen throughout the rest of the country, there remain a small number of issues to address. It is believed that many householders are not aware that aerosols and hard plastic bottles can be recycled. Furthermore, they are often used away from the kitchen, which is where recycling tends to take place in most households. Also whilst the recycling rate of glass bottles is high, the equivalent for glass jars is lower due to the presence of residues, which need to be rinsed out. We hope that this initiative will help to raise awareness of the importance of recycling these items and rewards the further improvement in recycling performance across the participating authorities.
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