With campaigns from: Brighton and Hove city council, The Wolves FC, North Lincolnshire council, Hull city council and Reading borough council.
Brighton and Hove city council highlights improvements to recycling
Brighton and Hove city council have used Recycle Week to draw attention to the work it is doing to encourage residents to recycle more accurately and efficiently.
In spring this year, the council expanded its recycling facilities and added more orange bins for cartons. Additionally, it introduced pink bins for small electricals at recycling points around the city.
The council has also replaced the lids of other bins to make it easier to identify what goes where. This included burgundy lids for glass and light blue for general recycling.
Over the course of Recycling Week, the council hosted drop-in sessions to answer questions from residents.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, cabinet member for net zero and environmental services, said: “National Recycle Week is a reminder of how important it is to support residents to successfully recycle. More than a third of the 7,722 tonnes of contamination in our recycling bins is general waste, so changing that alone would make a huge difference.”
Wolves FC promotes textiles circularity through kit reuse
The Wolves FC has used Recycle Week as an opportunity to highlight their “One Pack One Planet” strategy.
Amongst several commitment to sustainability, the strategy includes a partnership with re-distribution charity His Church to donate surplus kit and other clothing to people in Europe, Africa and beyond, rather than being thrown away.
Richard Humphries, director of operations at His Church, commented: “Receiving the donation of kit from Wolves was a massive bonus for us and means we will be able to distribute it all over the world, with plans to send some to an orphanage in Kenya and also to Ukraine and Liberia.
“It brings some cheer to the local children who have heard all about the Premier League but would otherwise never be able to get their hands on any kit and are able to see that someone is thinking about them and caring for their predicament.”
North Lincolnshire highlights the five ‘Rescue Me’ items
For each day this week, North Lincolnshire council has highlighted a specific item in the WRAP “Rescue Me” campaign.
Charity WRAP launched the campaign at the start of Recycle Week to highlight five items that can be recycled but often end up in residual waste streams: yoghurt pots, cleaning product bottles, aerosols, toilet roll tubes and aftershave and perfume bottles.
In a letter delivered to Downing Street which called on action from prime minister Keir Starmer, WRAP said that one billion of these items are disposed of incorrectly ever year.
North Lincolnshire hopes to change the daily habits of its residents by focusing on one of the five items a day. It has also used the opportunity to teach the public about avoiding contamination when they recycle.
Hull turns green for Recycle Week
Hull city council joined North Lincolnshire in supporting the Rescue Me campaign.
💚 This week is #RecycleWeek.
To show our support, we are lighting up buildings in the city centre green.
Find out more, and how you can get involved, here:https://t.co/nA6KP8iJqF pic.twitter.com/Mml51WBM69
— Hull City Council (@Hullccnews) October 14, 2024
It also has lit up several of its key buildings in green to celebrate the occasion: Queen Victoria Square, The Guildhall, Hull Minster and the Spurn Lightship.
Councillor Charles Quinn, portfolio holder for environment, said: “It is our collective responsibility, as a city, to protect the environment and preserve it for future generations. By participating in national Recycle Week, we can all make a difference and contribute to a more sustainable future.
“This year’s theme ‘Rescue Me’, underscores the critical importance of keeping recyclable items in circulation. By ensuring these items are continuously recycled, we can significantly reduce the strain on our planet’s natural resources.
“I encourage all residents to join us in this campaign by recycling as much as possible and remember items that are often missed such as aerosols, plastic trigger sprays, plastic pots, perfume bottles, and toilet roll tubes can all be recycled too.”
Reading asks residents ‘to carefully consider’ what they bin
Reading borough council has asked its residents “to carefully consider” what they bin this Recycle Week.
The council’s latest figures have shown that 68% of items placed in residual waste bins in Reading could be recycled.
This figure was further broken down to:
- Food waste – 21% of residual bin waste
- Textiles – 8% of residual bin waste
- Glass – 4% of residual bin waste
- Paper, card, tins, plastics, aerosols, foil and cartons – 22% of residual bin waste
- Wood, metal, garden waste and electricals – 13% of residual bin waste
The council’s recycling centres – managed by Re3 – can recycle more than 25 material streams including coffee pods, appliances and vapes.
Karen Rowland, lead councillor for environmental services and community safety, said: “That pair of socks with holes in them should go to a textiles bank instead, any glass should go to one of our many bottle banks around the borough, and many people don’t realise that aerosols – be they deodorants or squirty cream cans – can also be recycled in your red recycling box rather than thrown away.
“If we all start thinking more when we dispose of an item and make small adjustments to our habits, together we can recycle so much more, minimise our impact on the environment, save valuable resources and reduce disposal costs.”
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