Recycle Week Underway – Are you doing your bit?
Wrexham Council tell us that here in Wales we get through a staggering 725,000 plastic bottles a day , but with only half of these reaching the recycling bin. Waste Awareness Wales and Wrexham Council are encouraging people to make an extra special effort during Recycle Week 2012, which is being held from June 18 to 24.
This summer’s exciting events programme, which includes the Queen’s Jubilee, London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as well as Euro 2012, is estimated to triple the amount of waste we produce over some days, so Waste Awareness Wales and Wrexham Council want to make sure that if 2012 is a bumper year for producing waste that it’s a bumper year for recycling it too.
Cllr Bob Dutton, OBE, Lead Member for Environment explains the aim of Recycle Week 2012: “If everyone in Wales recycles just one more plastic bottle each during Recycle Week, we’d save enough energy to power roughly 3,500 plasma TVs for a year. If we can encourage people to change their behaviour and start recycling as much as possible now, the difference it will make over the summer when we’re all likely to be out and about and creating a lot more waste will be huge.
“Every local authority in Wales offers a kerbside collection service so recycling has never been easier. Wales is leading the way, with 49% of household waste being recycled, but we’re taking this opportunity to urge people not to let this slip when holding barbecues or throwing street parties over the summer. Avoiding things like disposable paper cups, plates and napkins is ideal, but where waste is inevitable make sure you take it home and recycle it.”
By 2012/13 the Welsh Government has set all Welsh Local Authorities a statutory recycling target of 52% almost another 5% on top of the 47% of waste Wrexham recycled in 2010/11.
For bigger items Wrexham Council offer this page outlining places where furniture can be recycled.
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