Council asks residents to #wastenot and recycle more

Improved and increased facilities across the borough make recycling even easier than it ever was before. A vast range of items can be recycled either from the kerbside, at a bring bank site or at the council’s Swindon Road recycling centre including for example:  food, tins, paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastic, textiles, shoes, batteries and lots more.

Cabinet member Chris Coleman, cabinet member for clean and green environment said: "The current television series presented by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall investigates why Britain as a whole is wasting so much.  It has highlighted a growing problem with so many items including food, needlessly going to landfill.

"Residents in Cheltenham have always been good at recycling but locally we can do more. Earlier this year, we rolled out our ‘thanks a million’ campaign which thanked people in Cheltenham for recycling 46% of their household waste, saving £1m on landfill costs.

"But we still have a way to go.  It’s important to get the message out that recycling and re-using is good environmentally but also saves us all money. We are still spending £1.4m to bury waste at landfill each year so we need to combine our efforts even more to get this figure down."

One of the main things that chef and TV personality, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall draws attention to as part of his 'war on waste' is the amount of food being wasted.

In the coming weeks, residents locally may notice stickers and information hangers placed on their bins, containing reminders and useful information about recycling food waste.

Councillor Coleman continued: "Stickers and information hangers placed on bins will hopefully offer a useful reminder to avoid putting food in to wheelie bins and therefore landfill, but instead to put it into kerbside caddies which are emptied every week. Overall, what we are trying to do is urge people to take quick and simple steps to recycle more and waste less."

Meal time leftovers, food past its 'sell-by' date, tea bags, bones and egg shells can all go into the caddies.

Food waste collected from Cheltenham – as well as neighbouring authorities - is now being recycled at the pioneering new anaerobic digestion plant in Bishop’s Cleeve near Cheltenham.  The plant provides renewable energy for local homes. It also produces a by-product, organic liquid fertiliser, which is being used by local farmers.

Find out more

Further information is available at http://www.recycleforgloucestershire.com/ and residents can find out more about their own collections and order extra caddies at www.cheltenham.gov.uk/recycling, or call the team on 01242 262626.

People can read more about Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s campaign and for general tips and handy hints, visit love food hate waste.

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Photo calls can be arranged at the new anaerobic digestion plant – please contact Katie Sandey.

For press enquiries contact: Katie Sandey, communications and web team leader, telephone 01242 775050, email [email protected]