Leeds encouraged to level up its recycling habits as part of this year’s virtual Recycle Week

People across Leeds are being encouraged to celebrate this year’s Recycle Week virtually, with a programme of digital activities planned between September 21 and 28 to help residents level up their recycling habits.

Leeds Recycles will run a series of daily challenges across their Facebook and Twitter accounts throughout the week, highlighting ways to recycle more and reduce waste, such as composting and getting into better recycling habits around the home.

The team are hosting a Facebook Q&A on LeedsRecycles, happening on Friday at 1pm, to enable residents to have their questions answered on all things recycling.

Children will also be able to get in on the festivities with a planned reading of ‘Munch and the Funny Tummy’ as part of the Leeds Libraries story-time series, a charming tale about a recycling truck called Munch. Residents are also encouraged to take part in a seven-day recycling challenge throughout the week. Not only is this a great way to boost your own recycling rates whilst being green and environmentally friendly, it may also save you money! To find out more about the challenges, please see the notes to editor section.

Additionally, we will be lighting civic buildings across the city centre up in green throughout the week to help commemorate the 17^th annual national Recycle Week.

This year’s event comes as latest research from Recycle Now shows that the UK has become more environmentally aware, with nearly nine in ten households now saying they recycle regularly.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for the environment and active lifestyles, said:

“We have been delighted to see how households across Leeds are taking a more active role in recycling in recent years, with residents increasingly recycling more of the right things on a regular basis. While it may be celebrated very differently this year, I am very excited by what Leeds Recycles have planned for this year’s virtual Recycle Week.

“I hope that residents will continue to show their enthusiasm towards recycling by getting involved with the daily challenges and learning from the helpful advice on offer to recycle more and waste less.”

Peter Maddox, director of WRAP UK, the organisers of the national Recycle Week, said:

“It’s fantastic to see that, despite everything that has been thrown at them this year, more people than ever in Leeds are taking responsibility for protecting the environment by choosing to recycle. This is something we can all do, wherever we live – an individual action that, when performed by everyone, adds up to a huge change.

“Leeds’ recycling and waste workers have also been real heroes too, providing the best service possible under the most difficult of circumstances. The recognition they received in the form of friendly waves, notes, cards and gifts left out for them is heart-warming proof of how Leeds has co-operated.

“Recycle Week this year is an opportunity to thank you everyone in Leeds for continuing to recycle, whatever their circumstances, and to celebrate the way we have all pulled together. There has been a positive leap forward in attitudes that we must capitalise on so Leeds can do even better in the coming year!”

There are plenty of ways for residents in Leeds to get involved with recycling. Paper, cardboard, plastic and tins can be placed in green bins, whilst bulkier household items and garden waste can be taken to one of the city’s eight household waste recycling centres. Be sure to visit the Leeds City Council website for the latest on the rules surrounding visiting these sites.

Additionally, Leeds has a network of over 700 bottle banks for getting rid of glass bottles and jars, and on-street recycling points throughout the city centre for recycling coffee cups, plastics bottles and drinks cans while on the go.

For more information on recycling in your area, visit https://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/bins-and-recycling. For more information on Recycle Week, visit http://www.recyclenow.com/.

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

Josh Cawood

Graduate communications and marketing assistant

josh.cawood@leeds.gov.uk

0113 378 6007

Notes to editors:

About Recycle Week

First staged in 2004, Recycle Week is now the UK’s largest national annual recycling campaign. It is the week where citizens, media, local governments and brands come together to meet one goal: to galvanise everyone into recycling more of the right things, more often.

Everyone – organisations and individuals – can support Recycle Week by using #RecycleWeek on social media.

 About Recycle Now

Recycle Now is one of WRAP’s family of consumer facing brands.

An established brand, Recycle Now encourages and motivated citizens to recycle more things, more often, from all around the home. Using ground-breaking, robust insights and behaviour change theory, we develop interventions and campaigns to motivate citizens to change their behaviour.

Seven day challenge

 Why not during Recycling Week try your hand at the seven day challenge as below:

• Bag it up - set up your recycling bag or box in the kitchen to make it easy to collect your plastic, paper and metal: think recycling first
• Give it a rinse - rinse out your metal tins, foil and plastic food trays – anything with food in it. Rinsing makes it easier for us to recycle so that your tin can become something new!
• Get ‘appy - green bins can fill up quick so you don’t want to miss your collection day. Download the Leeds Bins app and schedule reminders for your bin day. Green bin always overflowing before collection day? You can request an extra green bin leeds.gov.uk/requestbins
• Chill out – The average household in Leeds chucks £420 in wasted food each year! Freeze food before it goes off – you can even freeze cheese, milk and wine! Grab some food inspiration from leedsbyexample.co.uk/food  
• Get out of the kitchen – there’s recycling to be had in your bathroom and other rooms. You can recycle empty deodorant bottles, shampoo bottles and toilet roll tubes!  
• Cheeky checks – most things are recyclable but on average up to a quarter of the black bin is made up of valuable recyclable materials. If it’s clean paper, cardboard, metal or plastic it’s probably recyclable. If you’re not sure whether something goes in your green bin then check on the Leeds bins app.
• Get composting – Compost your food and garden waste. If you don’t have a garden try a bokashi bin or wormery for just your food waste. Get composting advice and 35% off deals at leeds.gov.uk/compost