Pendle News Room

Pendle people are being urged to look out for their new recycling and waste collection calendars so they can put the right bin out on the right day - and recycle it right!

From Friday 5 November until Tuesday 30 November, Pendle Council staff will be out hand delivering the leaflets to around 38,000 homes in Pendle, plus posting 2,000 out via Royal Mail.

“It’s more important than ever to keep your new calendar handy where you can check it,” stated Councillor Nadeem Ahmed, Leader of Pendle Council.

“That’s because ALL areas of Pendle will have changes to their collection days for several weeks over the festive season,” he explained.

“We know how important it is to get your bins emptied over Christmas and New Year when you have extra waste and recycling for us to collect,” said Nadeem.

Due to the national shortage of drivers, Pendle Council has taken the decision to do Christmas catch up rounds on Saturdays.

This is instead of putting on extra crews on a Monday to Friday when there are not likely to be enough drivers.

Carole Taylor, Pendle Council’s Waste and Recycling Co-ordinator said:

“As well as keeping an eye on your new collection dates for Christmas and New Year, please check you are putting the right things in the right bin.

Carole explained:

“The biggest problem we have is people putting plastic bags in their recycling bins. 

“This year we’ve improved the design of the leaflet with more pictures so that it’s quick and easy to check what can and can’t be recycled in our bins,”

And Carole warned:

“There is a huge environmental and financial cost if things which can be recycled are sent to landfill.

“Please don’t mix non-acceptable items in with things which can be recycled in our bins.”

There are ongoing problems with people putting tetrapaks, such as soup and milk cartons, into their blue or brown recycling bins.

These can be recycled at the Household Waste Recycling Centres in Burnley and Barnoldswick, not via our bins. Visit www.pendle.gov.uk/recycling for details.

“When people get it wrong, sometimes whole wagonloads have to be rejected at Lancashire County Council’s recycling facilities,” she stressed.

Last year, a staggering 323 tonnes of paper and card from Pendle's blue bins had to be sent to landfill at a cost to council taxpayers of around £43,000.

Details on how to recycle it right are on Pendle Council’s website www.pendle.gov.uk/recycling

Councillor Nadeem Ahmed added:

“Local people really CAN make a difference by recycling more and making sure they recycle it right.

“The message is think globally and recycle locally!”

WRAP - the Waste and Resources Action Programme for the UK has stated that the small but powerful habit of recycling saves 18 million tonnes of CO2 a year.

That is the same environmental impact as taking 12 million cars off the road.

Nadeem added: “We’d like to thank everyone who is doing their bit to recycle as much as they can.

“As you can see from the statistics - it really does make a huge difference.”