This year’s national Recycle Week is encouraging people to recycle even more by highlighting the ‘unusual suspects’ around the home.
As well as the usual recycling items such as plastic drinks bottles, food and drink cans, jam jars and cardboard, there are many other items around the home that could be saved from landfill.
Between April 2015 and April 2016, residents across the Harrogate district diverted 23,370 tonnes of waste from landfill by using the council’s recycling services – that’s more than twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
Recycle Week this year (12-18 September 2016) wants them now to put more of the ‘unusual suspects’ that they might not think about recycling, into their recycling containers.
Items such as aluminium aerosol cans, foil trays, beauty cream jars and toilet roll tubes can all be recycled. So can perfume or aftershave bottles. Plastic shampoo, shower gel and moisturiser bottles can go in the recycling box as well – as can soap dispensers and spray cleaners once the spray and pump dispenser tops have been removed.
And if everyone in the UK recycled one toothpaste box, it would save enough energy to run a fridge in over 2,000 homes for a year.
Residents across the Harrogate district can now recycle more items than ever before, including brown cardboard, drinks cartons and corrugated card. However, some items currently can’t be recycled, such as plastic carrier bags and dark food trays, and the council is asking residents to take time out this Recycle Week to check what can go into their recycling boxes and bags, to save the contents becoming ‘contaminated’, which takes time and money to remove.
Details of what can be recycled can be found at www.harrogate.gov.uk/wasteandrecyclingguide
Councillor Michael Harrison is Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, Waste Reduction and Recycling. He said:
Recycling is already making a big difference, thanks to the dedication of residents across the Harrogate district.
The 23,000 plus tonnes we recycled from residents last year represents a tremendous achievement.
Recycling is important as it saves energy which helps the environment; it also prevents pollution as it reduces the need to collect new raw materials, so I hope people across Harrogate district keep up the good work!.
Recycle Week is an ideal time for residents to take a fresh look at their recycling habits, to see if there are any opportunities to recycle even more items.
Hopefully we can recycle much more in the coming year.
If you need an extra recycling box or bag, contact Harrogate Borough Council on 01423 500 600. You can find out what happens to your recycling by visiting www.harrogate.gov.uk/whereyourrecyclinggoes
