Foreword from Councillor Blake Pain
Lead member for the Environment and the Green Agenda
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From Monday 14 October until Sunday 20 October, Leicestershire County Council is supporting Recycle Week – an annual national recycling campaign delivered by Recycle Now.
This year’s theme is 'Rescue Me - Recycle' which focuses on ‘rescuing’ and recycling everyday items that are often unnecessarily put into our rubbish bins. By everyone recycling just one more item, we could save tonnes of material from being disposed of.
I encourage all residents to play their part today, and every day, to recycle right.
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Find out more about Leicestershire recycling
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This year’s theme for Recycle Week is ‘Rescue Me - Recycle’, which focuses on items around the house that are often missed out of our kerbside recycling.
The latest Recycle Now research shows that while we’re a nation of recyclers - nine out of ten people regularly recycle – nearly eight out of ten of us (79%) put one or more items into the rubbish bin that could have been recycled.
If we all recycle one more item, we could save tonnes of material from being disposed of.
For Recycle Week this year, Recycle Now have characterised five of the most commonly missed recyclable items to bring the campaign to life and are asking everyone to Rescue Me – Recycle.
The condemned containers will be popping up on our social media channels across the week including our Leicestershire Recycling Facebook page, so keep your eyes peeled and be sure to share these posts as and when they are published! Keep a look out for Fitz – Perfume bottle, Dee Dee – Deodorant, Rey – Trigger spray, Yogi – Yoghurt pot and Hube – Toilet roll tube. |
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A quick guide to kerbside recycling in Leicestershire
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Myth Busting this Recycle Week
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There are quite a few myths out there about recycling, and this Recycle Week we want to bust some of these by explaining what really happens to your recycling when it leaves your home.
“...I thought our recycling was cleaned”
After collection, recycling in Leicestershire goes to a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) where items are sorted into different materials (e.g. glass, card) by machinery and by hand. The MRF is a sorting facility, and the items are not washed which means it is important that the recycling is clean and dry before we put it in our recycling bin at home.
“...they can take it out if they don’t want it for recycling...”
Around 12% of the recycling in Leicestershire (excluding North West Leicestershire) is contaminated. This means either the wrong thing is put in the recycling or dirty items are put in. Contaminants regularly seen in Leicestershire recycling bins include food waste (both food and food residue), textiles and nappies (dirty and clean). It’s important we all take responsibility for what we put in our recycling bin, and we make sure to recycle right.
“...is our recycling actually recycled?”
Leicestershire’s recycling (excluding North West Leicestershire) is sent on to Casepak, a Materials Recycling Facility, where it is sorted and baled and sent on to be reprocessed by companies who buy the material. We have more information (including our end destinations) on our ‘What happens to your kerbside recycling?' page.
You can find out more information about recycling in Leicestershire on our Less Waste website. |
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