WIREDGOV

Innovative and ground-breaking schemes which have been set up by councils to boost recycling are being showcased as part of a nationwide campaign.

National Recycling Week takes place from today until the 18^th September. As part of the initiative, the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, is highlighting the many measures councils have introduced to maximise recycling.

These include:

Warwickshire County Council is highlighting to residents the huge range of items that many people may not realise are recyclable, but which could make a real difference if recycled. They include household objects such as aerosol cans, foil trays, beauty crème jars and toilet roll tubes. Recycling them could result in huge energy savings, the council says. For example, if everyone in the UK recycled one toothpaste box, it would save enough energy to run a fridge in over 2,000 homes for one year.

East Riding Council is stressing that waste like empty perfume bottles, tablet blister packs and boxes, toothpaste tubes, cleaning product bottles, takeaway boxes and food waste can all be put into blue and brown bins.

LGA Environment spokesman Cllr Martin Tett said: "Councils are going the extra mile and doing everything they can to encourage recycling.

"Councils have increasingly had to do more with less in recent years while trying to protect services. The next few years will continue to be a challenge and more difficult decisions will still have to be made. All councils will have to find further substantial savings from local services to plug funding gaps over the next four years and compensate for the rising cost pressures they face.

"Despite this, local authorities have delivered a transformation in recycling services over the last 10 years, increasing recycling from 23 per cent to over 43 per cent. The LGA's polling shows eight out 10 of the public are happy with the way their bins are collected.

"In the past decade, councils and residents have worked together to radically increase recycling and divert millions of tonnes of waste from landfill."

Case studies

Warwickshire County Council

http://www.stratford-herald.com/57870-new-campaigns-bid-boost-recycling.html

East Riding

http://news.eastriding.gov.uk/?id=28361

Notes to editors

1. Councils dealt with a 40 per cent real terms reduction to their core government funding between 2010 and 2015. Revenue Support Grant will reduce by a further 28 per cent (£2.7 billion) in 2016/17 alone.
2. http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/recycle-week-2016
   Now in its 13th year Recycle Week is a ‘celebration' of recycling