Areas surrounding waterways in Derby will soon be adorned with colourful and eye-catching bins to help residents and visitors recycle when out and about. The news comes as environmental charity Hubbub and Coca-Cola announce the winners of the In The Loop grant fund that launched in October to roll out public recycling points and boost out-of-home recycling in new areas.
Derby City Council has been awarded £25k of funding for the project
The fund aims to help reduce litter and increase recycling by collecting more glass, plastic bottles and cans and put these items back in the loop to be recycled.
The new #InTheLoop trials will involve the rollout of bright, colourful and eye-catching bins, targeted messaging and local partnerships to encourage positive behaviour change, with a particular focus on reducing the level of rubbish reaching destinations downstream of the waterways where the campaigns are taking place.
In Derby, bins will be situated along the River Derwent in the heart of the city and nearby green spaces including Darley Park and the River Gardens. This will be supported by local community groups such as the Midland Canoe Club and the Friends of Derby Riverside Gardens
The project will launch this summer, following in the steps of other trials part of #InTheLoop, the UK’s biggest collaborative approach to boost recycling on-the-go, which was first trialled in Leeds in 2018, followed by similar trials in Swansea, Edinburgh, Dublin, Wimbledon, Telford and Lambeth. Combined, these projects saw over 2.5 million plastic and glass bottles and cans collected and recycled.
Beau Zilesnick, Project Lead at Hubbub, said:
“We were highly impressed with the quality of the winning applications. These projects were selected for their ambitious plans to improve recycling rates and reduce litter ending up in our waterways in a range of different settings across the UK from a city harbour in Bristol, to busy tourist destinations like Worthing Seafront and rivers running through popular parks in Derby and Bury. This will allow #InTheLoop to build upon its legacy of introducing effective recycling on-the-go in parks, towns and cities across the UK and Ireland.”
Aaron Patel, Head of Public Affairs at Coca-Cola GB said:
“The Coca-Cola Foundation is delighted to be part of the programme to showcase those who are most committed to helping people recycle. We all want a cleaner environment and supporting local initiatives to help encourage recycling and improve recycling rates is one small step towards a more sustainable future. We believe that, by working together, we can make a real difference in tackling waste.”
Councillor Jerry Pearce, Cabinet Member for Streetpride, Leisure and Public Spaces added:
“Derby has some truly beautiful parks and green spaces along the Derwent and I’m excited to see this project get underway. It’s really going to help residents make even better choices for our parks, open spaces and the wider environment by enabling recycling on the go in these areas."