Cotswold residents asked to recycle even more for this year’s Big Recycling Hunt
With national Recycle Week (16 – 22 October) getting underway next week, Cotswold District Council is supporting this year’s Recycle Now campaign by encouraging residents to hunt out those forgotten recyclable ‘treasures’ that are hiding in cupboards and lurking inside rubbish bins.
This year’s campaign, the Big Recycling Hunt, is focussed on items that people may forget to recycle or may not know they can recycle. Recycling as much as possible reduces the need to use new resources and eliminates unnecessary waste.
Fifty-four per cent of the public admit to putting glass perfume and aftershave bottles into the bin. Cotswold residents can simply put them in their black box with their glass jars and bottles.
Shampoo bottles are also listed as one of the top recyclable items that end up in the bin. If everyone in the Cotswold district recycled just one extra shampoo bottle it would save enough energy to boil 180,000 kettles.
Councillor Mike Evemy, portfolio holder for Waste and Recycling at Cotswold District Council, said: “Over half of UK residents admit to not always recycling common items, including plastic pots, tubs and trays as well as food tins and drink cans from the kitchen. Bathroom items aren’t always recycled either despite it being easy and simple to do so. Shampoo and conditioner bottles, plastic detergent and cleaning bottles and empty aerosols all appear in the top six of items that most frequently get forgotten when it comes to recycling according to Recycle Now.
“Thanks to the on-going efforts of our residents, Cotswold District is regularly placed in the top 5 percent of English councils for recycling, which is a fantastic achievement. But we want to do more and we know residents do too.
“With so many opportunities to recycle, we’re hoping residents will support this year’s campaign and think if what they’re binning could be recycled instead.”
Recycle Week is the flagship event of the Recycle Now campaign.
For ideas on how to recycle more from the bathroom, Recycle Now has the following tips: https://www.recyclenow.com/how-to-recycle/bathroom-recycling
Residents can find information about what can and can’t be recycled at the kerbside by visiting the waste and recycling pages on Cotswold District Council’s website: https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/what-to-put-in-your-bin/
The Gloucestershire Waste Wizard online tool can help residents find the most sustainable way to dispose of their unwanted household items, including local repair cafes, charity shops, and recycling drop off points. Visit the Waste Wizard: www.cotswold.gov.uk/wastewizard
Contact Information
Cotswold District Council Communications Team
Notes to editors
Photo shows: Councillor Mike Evemy, Portfolio Holder for Waste and Recycling, Cotswold District Council.
- Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is the organisation behind Recycle Now. According to WRAP’s Recycling Tracker Report November 22 (published Feb 2023), the percentage of UK citizens who admit to putting a least one item in the general rubbish whey they are collected at the kerbside:
-Glass perfume/aftershave bottles (54%)
-Foil (29%)
-Aerosols (23%)
-Clear plastic trays (14%)
-Plastic detergent/cleaning bottles (12%)
-Plastic toiletries/shampoo bottles (11%)
- 54% of people dispose of one or more items in the general rubbish when it is accepted in the household recycling collection.
- According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), 29% of UK people recycle most things but not everything, 9% recycle key items only or recycle occasionally, while 3% of people rarely or never recycle.
- Let’s Recycle league tables (2021-22) place Cotswold District as 15th out of 333 English authorities for its waste and recycling performance: https://www.letsrecycle.com/councils/league-tables/2021-22-overall-performance/
- Each year Cotswold residents recycle an average of 8,900 tonnes of recycling, 3,200 tonnes of food waste and 8,700 tonnes of garden waste.