Pendle News Room

“This week is national Recycling Week and we are encouraging local residents to protect our environment and recycle all they can,” announced Councillor Nadeem Ahmed, Leader of Pendle Borough Council.

“We are currently running a foil recycling campaign in partnership with Alupro - a not-for-profit organisation with over 30 years’ experience representing the UK’s aluminium packaging industry.
“We are using digital screens and social media and huge graphics will soon be rolling out on our bin wagon fleet.”

The messages in the campaign include that if you can scrunch your foil you can recycle it in your brown bin, including foil chocolate wrappers.

People are being asked to simply rinse their empty foil containers and make sure there are no large pieces of food stuck to the sides before putting them into their brown bin.
The used foil does not have to be perfectly clean!
 
“In August we launched a new battery recycling collection service thanks to funding from Lancashire County Council, explained Nadeem.

“This has resulted in 1.5 tonnes of batteries being recycled from people’s homes so far.”

Small household batteries can be put in a clear bag on top of the blue or brown recycling bin and for more details visit www.pendle.gov.uk/batteries
 
Recycling more from home ties in with WRAP priorities – the Waste and Resources Action Programme which leads Recycling Week.

Sarah Clayton, Head of Citizen Behaviour Change WRAP said:  
“In 2022, we want to show why recycling is important in the battle against the climate emergency. 

“We are focusing on helping people recycle more effectively at home.”

Nadeem added:
“We are working hard to boost the amount of recycling in Pendle and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

“The message is clear for this year’s Recycling Week - to ‘get real’ and recycle it right,” stated David Walker, the Council’s Environmental Services Manager. 

“That’s because across the country a high percentage of people are still putting the wrong things in the wrong bin!

“One of the worst problems we have in Pendle is local residents putting plastic bags in their blue and brown recycling bins.”

WRAP is flagging up the problem of ‘wishcycling'. 

This is the practice of putting something in the recycling bin in the hope that it will be recycled, even though it might be unsuitable, contaminated or only partially recyclable.
Common items which people wrongly put in their recycling bin include drinking glasses, foil pet food pouches, used toothpaste tubes and milk, juice and soup cartons.

“We are urging local people to check their recycling and waste calendars to make sure they recycle all they can and put the right things in the right bin.
“Or visit www.pendle.gov.uk/recycling where there are also links to the Household Waste Recycling Centres run by Lancashire County Council where items like drinks cartons can be recycled.

Nadeem added: “We’d like to thank everyone in Pendle who’s doing their bit to recycle more, including over 8,000 gardeners on our garden waste scheme.  

“If you’re a gardener keen to recycle autumn leaves, fallen fruit and other garden waste, it’s not too late to see if you can join up.” 
Visit www.pendle.gov.uk/gardenwaste for details.

WRAP has listed the UK top ten contaminants:
1.    Drinking glasses (33%)
2.    Foil pouches (29%)
3.    Toothpaste tubes (26%)
4.    Plastic film lids (24%)
5.    Tissues & Paper towels (22%)
6.    Glass cookware (22%)
7.    Plastic film (20%)
8.    Cartons (19%)
9.    Plastic toys (18%)
10.    Frozen veg bags (18%)
WRAP states:
“When too many contaminated items are collected, it can stop whole lorry loads of material from being recycled. If every household in the UK contaminates their recycling with a standard drinking glass, it’s enough to fill over 363 refuse lorries! 

“But if we recycle right, we can have a huge positive impact on the environment.”