Local charities help develop national recycling campaign

 
Local charities South Shropshire Furniture Scheme & Shropshire Housing Alliance have been involved in a national project to develop a campaign to encourage people to donate old furniture and appliances for re-use and recycling.

In 2012, the schemes were selected by national waste experts WRAP as one of six national pilots to develop and test a range of communications materials aimed at increasing re-use of textiles and bulky waste.

Now thanks to the success of their work the campaign is being rolled out nationally and so  all local authorities, charities and other re-use organisations across the UK can now have access to free tried and tested marketing materials to help promote their work.

The Shropshire pilot helped prove the effectiveness of the campaign by showing an increase in the amount of material they would normally collect for re-use.  In addition to this post campaign monitoring found that 45% of householders who recalled the communications said they will think about re-use more when getting rid of unwanted items in future.  The Shropshire pilot also had the highest level of recall of any of the pilots. 

The project which was delivered in partnership with the local authorities in Shropshire utilised a variety of communications activities including a leaflet drop to all households in the target area.  Other communications included press releases, roadshows, posters, banners, online and social media activity.

Instructions on how to access the full range of downloadable campaign materials are available now from the RecycleNow partners website.

What to do with old TV's in Shropshire

Television and Personal Computer monitors are potentially harmful due to their toxic heavy metal content, so you should handle with care and never put them in your household rubbish. You can safely recycle these items at any of the Council Household Recycling Centres (HRC's) in Shropshire & Telford.

Any display screens are accepted for recycling, including:

• Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors

• Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens

• Plasma screens

• Personal Computer (PC) monitors

• Calculators

• Sat navs

• Laptops

All monitors are taken to an innovative charity called Recycling Lives in Preston, Lancashire for recycling.  The hazardous materials are safely removed and recycled and then the monitors are stripped for components. They are then smashed up to allow raw materials like plastics and metal to be separated and recycled.

For more information on this charity visit Preston Recycling Ltd

Bertie Bulb highlights recycling scheme for Shropshire

Bertie Bulb, the ‘low-energy light bulb on a high energy mission to recycle’ visited Shropshire recently to raise awareness of the importance of recycling low-energy light bulbs. 

  

In accordance with the EU WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) Directive, low-energy light bulbs need to be recycled at the end of their life. And the best thing about these rules is that they require the manufacturers to pay for it all, so the whole scheme operates at no cost to the taxpayer.

Hence firms like Homebase are working in partnership with national scheme Recolight to offer in-store recycling at all their UK stores including the following sites in Shropshire: - 

• Homebase - Market Drayton - Towers Lawn, Cheshire St, Shropshire, TF9 3AA

• Homebase - Whitchurch - Waymills, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RS

• Homebase - Shrewsbury - Sundorne Retail Park, Battlefield Road, SY1 4YA

• Homebase - Oswestry - Penda Retail Park, Salop Road, Shropshire, SY11 2RL

• Homebase - Telford - Wrekin Retail Park, Telford, Shropshire, TF1 2DE

For more information contact Homebase directly on 0845 640 7540 ‎or visit their website

Shropshire children learning about recycling

School pupils across Shropshire have been learning more about recycling this month when ‘Recycler’ the rapping robot visited a dozen local primary schools. 


The initiative was sponsored by Shropshire Council's Waste Management section who are working in partnership with the national recycling charity Waste Watch.

The talking robot delivered action-packed inpsiring educational and fun assemblies where he raps/sings, moves, lights up and interacts with pupils to teach them how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Throughout the performance, Recycler shows children how they can reduce their waste and put the three Rs into practice at home and at school, for example by making full use of local Council recycling schemes. This is all ultimately helping to reduce the environmental and financial burden of sending waste to landfill in Shropshire not just now but for the future as well.

Shirley Barre, Education Officer with Waste Watch, said:

“Every household in the UK throws away over one tonne of waste each year, and more than half of this could be recycled. A visit from Recycler is a great way for young people to learn about how important it is to reduce waste and to recycle as much as possible, at home and at school. Joining in with Recycler’s rap and watching the games, props and roleplays is a great way to remember important messages and take them home.”

Waste Watch, is a national, independent, not-for-profit organisation and a registered charity who advise, educate and inform people on ways to reduce all forms of waste. For more information visit www.wastewatch.org.uk or www.recyclezone.org.uk

Get composting advice and learn to grow your own

Shrewsbury grow your own food day

 

• Saturday 23/02/2013
• 10:00 to 15:00
• Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury

Stock up on traditional and new varieties of seed potatoes, vegetable seeds and onion sets. Top quality peat-free compost on sale.

Shropshire Wildlife Trust's own expert John Hughes - fresh from his regular slot on Shropshire Radio's Gardening with Ryan Kennedy - will be offering useful tips on how to make the most of your vegetable plot between 10 and 12 and will be ready to answer all your gardening queries.

 

Advice and demonstrations from the Shropshire Master Composters and Shropshire Beekeepers. Fun activities for the kids and home-made refreshments available throughout the day. A great day out for all.  Free entry.

 

Wood recycling in Shropshire

You can recycle wood at the Councils Household Recycling Centres (HRC's) in Shropshire.

What wood can currently be recycled?

• All soft and hardwood offcuts
• Floorboards
• Skirting boards
• Pallets
• 'OSB' (orient standard board)
• Plywood
• Melamine and laminates
• Chipboard
• Doors
• Hardboard
• Treated, varnished or painted wood
• ‘MDF’ (Medium Density Fibreboard)
• Wooden boxes
• Wooden furniture
• Wooden window frames

What happens to the wood ?

It’s sent to A&A Recycling near Birmingham, a wood merchant who sorts the material into good clean wood which can be recycled and lower grade material used as biomass fuel to create 'green' energy.  Ultimately a lot of this material ends up back on the Shropshire / Wales border at the Kronospan factory in Chirk where it is used to make chipboard.   Recycled wood chip can also be used to make high quality animal bedding or sold on to the horticultural industry for mulching.
 

Why recycle wood?

We import 80% of the timber we use in the UK from abroad, so reusing and recycling wood in the UK helps our economy. Its good for the environment too because not only does recycling wood help to reduce the amount of rubbish which gets sent to landfill but its also saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

• A and A recycling
• Kronospan

Get composting and save a little extra

Shropshire residents still have 6 weeks to buy a discounted compost bin, before a price increase comes in to effect on 1 April 2013.

Shropshire & Telford Councils both work together in partnership with www.getcomposting.com to enable local residents to buy specially discounted home compost bins.

The standard compost bin on offer costs £16.  But from April 1st 2013, the price will rise to £16.99. There is also a Buy one Get One Half Price Offer, adding extra value to residents with larger gardens or those who team up with a friend or neighbour to buy a bin.


Compost bins can be ordered via www.getcomposting.com or you can call 0844 571 4444.

Get composting this Valentines Day

Shropshires loved-up residents are being urged to get those Valentine’s Day flowers into the compost bin – once they’ve wilted of course.


It is predicted that on Valentines Day, the average sales of fresh flowers in Shropshire more than quadruples - which will create a lot of organic waste that could be put to good use in compost bins across the area.

By home composting, you can reduce the amount of waste you send to landfill sites. And it is not just flowers but Valentines cards which make a great addition to the home compost heap. 

If you really want to say "I love you" you could even treat your Valentine to a new compost bin as a nice present.  There are special offers available via  www.getcomposting.com

Valuing our clothes

 
Despite the severe recessions and increased awareness of recycling, we still have something of throwaway culture in the UK.  A classic example is the way we treat our clothes as fashion accessories rather than functional items.  Waste quango WRAP published an excellent study recently which is all part of their work with the clothing industry to help move them towards more sustainable business models. 

Their research showed that over a million tonnes of clothes are thrown out each year in the UK.  At a time when many households are struggling this seems insane because second hand clothes sell for decent money and even if these clothes are really worn out they still have value for the rag trade and thus we're missing out on a multimillion pound resource. 

By my calculations this means that across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin we're getting through 7,000 tonnes a year!  Whilst it is great that most of this is being put to use (either by being donated to second hand shops, sold on e-bay, re-used through charity doorstep sack collection schemes or recycled via the council recycling centres) that leaves 2,000 tonnes of clothing which ends up just being binned and then rotting in local landfill sites.  

Such a waste as even worn and torn old textiles have a value of around £400 per tonne if recycled via the rag trade to make industrial cleaning rags and "shoddy" for cushion stuffing.  So we could be bringing around £800,000 into the local economy but instead we are paying for this material to be dumped.  A double whammy which means over £125,000 was sucked out of the pockets of local taxpayers (and thus out of Shropshires economy) last year just to cover the landfill tax payments alone for burying all this clothing!  When you factor in disposal costs as well it means a near one million pound prize is up for grabs if Shropshire residents could just be persuaded to recycle every last scrap.

The other shocking stat to come out of the report is that on average 30% of the clothing in our wardrobes has not been worn for a year. That's £200 million spent on clothing across the whole of Shropshire which arguably isn't needed at all.

By making the most of the unwanted clothes that currently sit in our wardrobes or go to landfill then businesses, charities and individuals could unlock a lucrative revenue stream and inject this back into the local economy. 

Over one million eggs get landfilled in Shropshire every single year!!!

This one was sent over by our friends at Shropshire Council... Some scary stats hey!?!

Pancakes are traditionally made on Shrove Tuesday (12 Feb 2013) as a way to use up any remaining butter, milk and eggs the day before Lent begins. It’s also a great opportunity to use up any leftovers from your fridge or kitchen cupboards.




So Shropshire Council is working in partnership with Veolia and Love Food Hate Waste to help raise awareness of the problem of food waste this Pancake Day.

Research shows that more than 5,000 pints of milk are wasted every single day in Shropshire alone - a case of literally pouring money down the drain. We also bin over one million eggs and tonnes of flour every year in Shropshire - this ends up rotting in local landfill sites which is bad for the environment. So instead of filling your bin, why not visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com to see how you can fill your stomach by cooking up a tasty Shrove Tuesday treat.

Councillor Mike Owen, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Waste Management said:

“Pancake Day is the perfect time to make the most of those leftover food items we all have lurking in the cupboard, saving ourselves some money and helping the environment in the process. Using up leftovers is really easy, especially on Pancake Day. Pancakes are so versatile as long as you have the basic ingredients of milk, eggs and flour you can use anything you like as an accompaniment. For interesting recipes visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.”

Soil and rubble recycling in Shropshire

As keen gardeners we would never give away our valuable soil and rubble because we can always find a way of reusing it around the garden for making a soak-away or just general landscaping.  However for some people who just want to get rid of it then its useful to know that small amounts of soil and rubble be recycled at each of the five main Household Recycling Centres (HRC's) in Shropshire.

What types of soil and rubble are accepted?

They only accept small quantities of:

• soil
• roofing tiles
• ceramic tiles
• cement slabs
• concrete
• rocks and stones
• bricks
• sand and gravel
• hardcore
• tarmac
• rubble
• building aggregates

If you have huge quantities or material from your business activities, you must hire a commercial skip service to deal with this waste.

What happens to the soil and rubble?

Soil and rubble is transported to Tudor Griffiths Ltd in Ellesmere, Shropshire and recycled. Rubble and hardcore is crushed and used to create road aggregates and once cleaned up, reconditioned soil is used to restore closed landfill sites.

For more information visit Tudor Griffiths recycling

Mum backs Shrewsbury Bag-a-thon

A mum whose daughter has overcome a serious heart condition is backing a major charity appeal.  Elaine Emberton’s daughter, Megan, was born with a hole in the heart and Elaine, who works at the British Heart Foundation’s store in Shrewsbury’s busy Darwin Shopping Centre is calling for donation to the their Great British Bag-athon.

Elaine, 45, from Shrewsbury, who works some paid hours as well as giving up more of her time to work on a voluntary basis at the furniture and electrical store.  

She is reminded residents in Shrewsbury that the local British Heart Foundation shops are always keen to receive saleable donations including clothing, shoes, books, DVD’s, CD’s and bric-a-brac.

They need good quality unwanted furniture such as sofas, dining sets and beds or electrical items such as kettles, toasters and coffee makers. They offer free collection for Shrewsbury households.

For more information of the British Heart Foundation’s Bagathon Appeal visit www.bhf.org.uk/shop/bag-athon.aspx