Recycle Week 2024

West Berkshire Council is delighted to join this year's Recycle Week (14-20 October) to celebrate the efforts of people in West Berkshire and help save four packaging heroes from the rubbish bin.

Now in its twenty-first year, Recycle Week (organised by Recycle Now) is the UK's biggest celebration of recycling, shining a light on the nation's recycling habits through activities happening across the UK. For Recycle Week 2024, West Berkshire Council joins an urgent crusade to save four packaging heroes from being rubbished and keeping them out of the bin and living the circular life, through recycling.

The latest Recycle Now research shows that while we're a nation of recyclers - nine out of ten people regularly recycle - nearly eight out of ten of us (79%) put one or more items into the bin that could have been recycled.

To highlight the plight of the ill-fated packaging heroes, Recycle Now has created a team of characters to bring the campaign to life and is asking everyone to Rescue Me - Recycle.

The condemned containers include Dee Dee the deodorant, Rey the plastic trigger spray,  Fitz the perfume bottle and humble Hube - the toilet roll tube. The group will feature on recycling and refuse lorries in parts of the UK, in school education packs and on social media. Life-size characters have been produced to highlight the key message and will feature in media throughout Recycle Week.

A week of fun activities with a serious message, Rescue Me - Recycle aims to empower people in West Berkshire to look out for the items most often left out of the recycling collection. West Berkshire Council will be encouraging residents to keep them in circulation by recycling.

After collecting recycling, it all comes to our facility at Padworth in West Berkshire, which is managed and operated in partnership with Veolia. There your recycling is either sorted further or bulked ready for transport direct to reprocessors in the UK or EU.

• The plastic bottles, cans and aerosols are separated and then further sorted into different grades and bailed ready for transport to reprocessors where they are turned into new products such as new milk bottles and drink cans. The majority sent for recycling with the UK, with some also being sent to the EU.
• Our glass is sent to smelters in London where it is melted down and used to make new bottles, jars and aggregate.
• The paper and card are bulked at Padworth ready to be transported to paper mills where it is turned into more paper and card. Most is sent to the EU, with the rest staying in the UK.
• All the food and garden waste we collect comes to our in-vessel compost facility at Padworth. We are proud that this is all turned into PAS 100 certified soil conditioner for use by local farmers and landscapers.

West Berkshire Council will be supporting Recycle Week by conducting recycle drop-in sessions across the district. A member of our waste team will be at:

• Burghfield Library on Monday October 14  between 2pm-5pm,
• Waitrose Newbury on Wednesday October 16 between 2pm-5pm
• Theale Library on Friday October 18 between 2pm-5pm.

 We will also be continuing our educational talks on the theme of reduce, reuse recycle visiting local Scout Groups during the week.

 You'll also notice some of our local landmarks are lighting up green for Recycle Week - Shaw House, Newbury - go and check them out and remember to share your pictures on social media using #RecycleWeek!

 Last, but not least, we will be running our fifth soil conditioner giveaway so mark your calendars for Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October 2024, between 10:00am and 4:00pm where you will be able to swing by our Padworth Waste Management Facility at Padworth Lane, RG7 4JF, and grab some locally produced soil conditioner made from your food and garden waste.

Cllr Stuart Gourley, Executive Member for Climate Action, Recycling and Biodiversity at West Berkshire Council said, 

''We are proud to once again be supporting recycling week as recycling is vital to ensure valuable materials can be recaptured - recycled - and used again. It reduces the need to extract oil (for plastic) or metal from the Earth. Our draft waste management strategy 2025-2032 shows our commitment to a more sustainable future in how we manage our waste and resources and how we continue to improve our recycling services up until 2032. We will continue to push the boundaries of what's possible for our environment and set an example for others to follow to ensure we meet our Net Zero targets by 2030 and to help our residents recycle like heroes!''

Craig Stephens, Senior Campaign Manager for Recycle Now said,

 "We are delighted that West Berkshire Council is supporting Recycle Week. While a light-hearted campaign, recycling is essential to limit the impact what we buy has on the environment. Keeping these materials circulating means we can reduce emissions linked with our weekly shop. Most people are recycling, and the material we capture has a multitude of uses, so the next step is to ensure everyone captures everything they can. Every aerosol, every trigger spray bottle, every perfume bottle and toilet roll tube. Rescue - recycle!"

 If you would like to follow the action on social media and take part in your own rescue missions, please use the hashtag #RescueMeRecycle and #RecycleWeek. Follow on Twitter/X @recycle_now and Instagram @recyclenow_uk for updates on how you can get involved and make an impact this Recycle Week.