Take action now to recycle more

Worcestershire County Council is supporting this year’s Recycle Week (20th-26th September) and is encouraging residents to reduce their waste by recycling more.

One of the County Council’s main priorities is to encourage people living in Worcestershire to reduce, re-use and recycle.

Nationally, almost 9 out of 10 of people are already recycling but 55% of households still put items in the general rubbish that could be recycled.

Councillor Tony Miller, Cabinet Member for the Environment at Worcestershire County Council, said: “We have made great improvements in terms of how we recycle in recent years but this year’s recycle week gives us an opportunity to ensure we all continue to play our part and recycle our own waste effectively.

“Recycling an item rather than throwing it in the general rubbish bin, means that it will be dealt with in a much more environmentally-friendly way by making it in to something new.

“Up to 10% of the recycling sent to our recycling plant are materials that cannot be recycled such as food waste, nappies, clothing, electrical items and toys, so it is always worth checking which bin something should go in if you’re not sure.”

Top tips for recycling include:

• recycle more of these items: aerosols, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays.
• make sure these never go in the recycling bin: aluminium foil, plastic bags, food waste, nappies, electrical items and garden waste.
• put your recycling in your green bin loose; if it goes into a plastic bag it may be rejected at the sorting plant.

Recycle Now, the organisation behind Recycle Week, has a Recycling Locator online which shows people exactly what needs to go in the recycling bin where they live.

Visit the Recycle Now website to access the Recycling Locator and for more information about recycling.