Orkney urged to get behind Recycle Week

Reducing the number of recyclable household plastics which end up in landfill is the aim of this year’s Recycling Week, a campaign backed by Orkney Islands Council.

Running from Monday, September 24 until Sunday, Sepetember 30, the annual UK-wide campaign will attempt to address the issue of plastic bottles.

Each year, 30,000 tonnes of recyclable plastic bottles, such as shampoo and cleaning bottles, end up in landfill. In Orkney, 128 tonnes of plastic bottles are incinerated every year.

Here in Orkney, OIC’s waste team will be carrying out a number of activities including a drop-in at Tesco on Monday, visits to local schools, as well as sharing recycling information and tips on its Facebook and Twitter feeds.

The team will be also be encouraging local people to take part in the Scottish Government’s national consultation on a deposit return scheme on disposable drinks containers for Scotland.

OIC’s project coordination manager for waste, Jayne Venables, believes that small improvements in Orkney’s recycling rates could make a huge difference.

She says for every one per cent extra material that is recycled, the council can save up to £12,500 on waste disposal costs

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland added: “Recycle Week is the ideal opportunity to do more to make sure we’re recycling as much as we can. We all use plastic bottles in our daily routines — from shampoo and shower gel, to cleaning products —which can all be widely recycled, and it doesn’t take long to do.”

You can also follow activity and share messages throughout the week on the Eco Active Orkney and/or OIC updates Facebook pages or using #RecycleWeekScot on Twitter.

More information on deposit return and Recycling Week is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website at: www.zerowastescotland.org.uk