Derby is proud to be taking recycling into its own hands! In the biggest and best Recycle Week ever, Recycle Now is tasking residents to take recycling into their own hands and take action to protect our environment.

The year so far has been one of protests and marches. People have had enough of the status quo; things need to change urgently. Inspired by Our Planet, Greta Thunberg and Sir David Attenborough – environmental concerns have never been so important to the nation. Last year we saw people being more motivated to recycle and 2018 was the biggest Recycle Week to date, but 2019 promises to be bigger and better!

For its 17th annual Recycle Week (23rd – 29th September), Recycle Now is capitalising on this heightened awareness and energy right here in Derby; tasking residents – and people all over the UK – to act and focus on getting recycling right during Recycle Week.

Getting recycling right

Latest research from Recycle Now reveals that over 60% of UK households are now recycling more than they were a year ago because of environmental concerns.

The research shows that more and more UK households are recycling plastic drinks, cleaner, toiletry and shampoo bottles, amongst other items including glass and metal tin cans. The level of increase of glass and metal / tin cans is at a slightly lower level compared to the other items cited. Nearly a third of these people cite environmental concerns as the main reason for doing more and other attribute it to an increased awareness of what can be recycled. Whilst the research showed an increase in recycling, it also showed that UK households sometimes incorrectly put items like nappies, toys and toothpaste tubes in the recycling bin.

But fear not – Recycle Now is here to help! Derby is a city of recyclers – but there are some simple things that we can all do to make our recycling even better.

Remember, if you ever want to check which bin a certain material should go in, you can take a look at the A – Z on our website.

Here are our 10 tips for keeping your recycling bin happy and healthy!

  1. Wash all food waste from your recyclables, and rinse out your toiletry bottles before they go in the bin.
  2. Check our A–Z to see what can be recycled in Derby – don’t just rely on the labels on the packaging.
  3. Squash plastic bottles when they are clean and empty, and pop the lid back on to keep the air out. The lid can be recycled, too!
  4. Leave the trigger spray lids on cleaning bottles – these can also be recycled.
  5. Keep plastic bags out of your blue bin. To recycle these, take them to the communal recycling points at supermarkets.
  6. Put your empty aerosols in the recycling bin, along with their lids.
  7. Leave a bag, box or bin in your bathroom to collect any bathroom recyclables, like the cardboard tube in your toilet roll!
  8. Avoid glittery wrapping paper, as this isn’t widely recycled. Plain, untextured wrapping paper is much better for your blue bin.
  9. Take your recycling outside – sign up for a brown bin and recycle any plant waste from your garden and food waste from your kitchen too!
  10. Any old electrical items can be recycled at Raynesway Household Waste and Recycling Centre. Keep these out of your blue bin as they can be a fire hazard.

If you want to find out more about recycling in Derby, visit our website.

If you’re at all 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 – just pop in your postcode!

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.

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. Here in Derby it’s no different – more and more of us are recycling, so the next step is to make sure we get our recycling right. So come on, Derby, keep up the great work and let’s make the city’s recycling better than ever before!

Councillor Jonathan Smale, Cabinet Member for Streetpride, Communities and Neighbourhoods commented:

The government’s set an ambitious target of 50% of all household waste to be recycled by the end of 2020 and we want to work with and encourage the people of Derby to achieve this.

Part of accomplishing this is to enable more households in Derby to recycle by reintroducing kerbside collections in Mackworth, Arboretum and Normanton. If you live in these areas haven’t registered to start collections, please do!

To find out more about Recycle Week, and to use the Recycling Locator to find out what to recycle where you live, visit the Recycle Now website.