Recycle Week: ‘Stepping It Up’ in the fight against Climate Change
20 Sep 2021 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
The council is joining Recycle Now in the fight against climate change and asking residents to ‘Step It Up’ and take action to protect our environment through even better recycling habits.
This year, Recycle Now welcomes a celebrity ambassador to front Recycle Week and is delighted to be working with TV Presenter, Invictus Games Medallist and Strictly Come Dancing Star JJ Chalmers for the national campaign. JJ is a keen environmentalist and is partnering with Recycle Now to inspire the nation to ‘Step It Up’ in the fight against climate change.
He said: “I’m thrilled to be part of this year’s campaign. I’m passionate about the environment and how we can battle climate change. I am delighted to be working with the Recycle Now team on what has become a really important week of action across the UK. I really want to encourage people to look at what they are doing and how they can ‘Step It Up’ and do even more… even better.”
Getting recycling right
Latest research from Recycle Now reveals that almost 9 out of 10 people now recycle.
However, 55% of households put items in the general rubbish bin that can be recycled including paper, aerosols, and plastic bottles (shampoo/conditioner bottles, cleaning products), cardboard, and food and drinks cans. Residents can help fight climate change by ‘Stepping It Up’ and recycling these materials.
Every year, Recycle Week unites businesses, organisations and local authorities to focus on how recycling can play a part in limiting the pressure we put on the planet through our use of natural resources.
Northumberland is a county of recyclers, but there are some simple things residents can do to make recycling across the county even better, including:
- Recycling the correct items only. Find a full list of recyclable materials at www.northumberland.gov.uk/recycle
- Ensuring that nappies, face masks, dog waste, food waste and other non-recyclable items never go in the recycling bin. These items contaminate recycling waste, meaning waste must be sent for energy from waste at a greater cost, instead of being recycled.
- Keeping recycling materials clean, dry and loose
Craig Stephens, Campaign Manager for Recycle Now, said: “This year we’re focused on how recycling can help fight climate change and how by recycling even better we can have a bigger impact on our environment.
“In Northumberland, it’s no different – more and more of us are recycling, so the next step is to make sure we get our recycling right.”
Cllr Glen Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council and cabinet member for Climate Change, said: “As a council, we are proud to support Recycle Now’s initiative toward more effective recycling this Recycle Week.
“We know our residents are also passionate about a greener future but recently, we have seen an increase in contaminated recycling across areas of our county. Contaminated recycling bins can spoil a full bin wagon of good recyclable material, which means these products cannot be recycled or reused.
“Over the course of Recycle Week and beyond, I urge residents to be mindful of what products they put in their household recycling bins, so that we may practice more effective recycling in Northumberland and reach our goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.”