Recycle Week 2016

Recycle Week 2016

Recycle Week 2016 is taking place from 12 to 18 September and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council would like to thank residents of the district for the high level of recycling that is being done, and to tell you about a few ‘Unusual Suspects’.

Our residents recycle plastic drinks bottles, food and drink cans, jam jars, cardboard boxes and newspapers, but ‘The Unusual Suspects’ such as aerosol cans, foil trays, beauty crème jars and toilet roll tubes are often missed. There are lots of places around the home that ‘The Unusual Suspects’ can be found – can you hunt them down? What’s hiding in the bathroom or bedroom? Paper and cardboard items such as toothpaste boxes and tissue boxes are lurking. If everyone in the UK recycled one toothpaste box, it would save enough energy to run a fridge in over 2,000 homes for a year.

Keep an eye out for aluminium deodorant and air freshener aerosol cans. If everyone in the UK recycled one aluminium deodorant aerosol can, enough energy could be saved to vacuum over 480,000 homes for a year. Or, if everyone in the UK recycled one air freshener aerosol can, enough energy could be saved to run a fridge for over 91,000 homes for a year.

Taking a shower? The ‘Unusual Suspect’ might be in there with you. Plastic shampoo, shower gel and moisturiser bottles can be recycled too. In the kitchen the ‘Unusual Suspects’ help to keep things clean, washing up liquid bottles, soap dispensers, bleach bottles and spray cleaners can all be recycled. Just remember, it is best to remove the trigger spray and pump dispenser tops, as these cannot currently be recycled.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Recycling Officer, Tara Cunningham said, “Recycle Week is an ideal time for Newry, Mourne and Down residents to really take a fresh look at their recycling habits and to see if there are any opportunities to recycle even more items. There are a large amount of items that can be recycled, but some are lesser known or more ‘unusual’ than others, and so that is what we are aiming to raise awareness of.” 

There are many great benefits to recycling, as many materials can be recycled over and over again with no loss of quality. For example, in Newry your blue bin recycling is taken to REGEN, where the materials are separated into different types of materials before being sent to manufacturers who make it into new products. This saves resources, helps the environment, reduces energy use and supports a thriving recycling economy.

To find out more information or follow ‘The Unusual Suspects’, head to Recycle Now’s Facebook page or website www.recyclenow.com.