Posted by Charlotte Salter, on September 25, 2018.
From Blue Planet II, to major developments in packaging, this year people have been motivated to care about the environment in a way they never have before. For the 15th annual Recycle Week (24-30 September), we are capitalising on this energy and focusing on getting recycling right during Recycle Week.
Getting recycling right
As a nation we are recycling more than ever before, but it’s important that we get it right. New research from Recycle Now shows while people in the UK say doing their bit for the environment is one of the primary motivations for recycling, more than half (54%) put at least one item in the general rubbish that could be recycled.
Cleaning products can be recycled
This Recycle Week UKCPI is helping to clear up confusion about what can and cannot be recycled. According to a recent survey by the British Science Association, 51% of people didn’t know you can recycle bleach bottles and 57% didn’t know that you can recycle surface cleaner bottles with the trigger spray. Whereas, in fact, detergent bottles can be collected from 99% of UK households, according to recent BBC analysis of WRAP data. So UKCPI’s Recycle Me campaign is spreading the message that in fact most cleaning products can and should be recycled.
There are some simple things that we can all do to make our recycling even better.
Top tips for recycling:
• Remember to recycle products from your bathroom as well as kitchen
• You can recycle most cleaning product packaging
• If in doubt, check your local recycling scheme and then sort and recycle
If you’re unsure about how to recycle a specific item, remember that Recycle Now’s Recycling Locator can show you exactly what needs to go in the recycling bin where you live.
What and how we recycle really matters. Recycling an item rather than throwing it in the general rubbish bin means that it will be dealt with in the most environmentally-friendly way, keeping materials in use and out of the environment.
Philip Malpass, Director General of the UK Cleaning Products Industry Association (UKCPI), said: “People have been motivated to care about the environment this year in a way they never have before. The more people that know that their cleaning packaging can be recycled and not put into general waste, the better.”
Craig Stephens, campaign manager for Recycle Now, said: “This year we’ve all taken more notice of our impact on the environment, and realised that recycling is part of reducing that impact. More and more of us are recycling, so the next step is to make sure we get our recycling right.”
