Council is ‘Stepping It Up’ in the fight against climate change this Recycle Week

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is proud to ‘Step It Up’ this Recycle Week.

Recycle Now and Council are asking residents to take action to protect our environment through even better recycling habits.

This year Recycle Now is delighted to be working with TV Presenter, Invictus Games Medallist and Strictly Come Dancing Star, JJ Chalmers, for the national campaign.

Latest research from Recycle Now reveals that almost 9 out of 10 people recycle.

However, 55% of households put items in the general rubbish bin that can be recycled; including foil, aerosols, and plastic toiletry (shampoo and conditioner bottles), plastic trays and cleaning and bleach bottles.

We can all help fight climate change by recycling because recycling currently saves 18 million tonnes of CO₂ every year, which is the same as taking 12 million cars off the road.

Mid and East Antrim is a borough of recyclers – but there are some simple things that we can all do to make our recycling even better.

We can make effective changes by recycling more bathroom plastics, tin foil and aerosols, and ensuring we do not place items like plastic film, plastic bags, food waste, or unused food in packaging into our recycling bins.

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Councillor William McCaughey, said:

“Recycle Week is such an important week in the waste and recycling calendar, as it gives us the opportunity to really push the recycling agenda and get more engagement.

“It lets our residents know how by recycling one more item in their kerbside recycling, they’re contributing to Council’s recycling rate, decreasing landfill tonnage, protecting the environment and supporting local jobs in the circular economy.

“Recycling information is available on our website at www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk, on the Bin-ovation app and through press releases and social media.

“Keep an eye out for top tips and facts this Recycle Week and really help us to Step It Up this year. Our residents are already great at recycling, but we can do even more which will result in reduced carbon emissions and contributing to the reduction in impact of climate change.”

Craig Stephens, Campaign Manager for Recycle Now, adds:

“This year we’re focussed on how recycling can help fight climate change and how by recycling even better we can have a bigger impact on our environment. Here in Mid and East Antrim 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, Mid and East Antrim, keep up the great work and let’s make our borough’s recycling better than ever before!”

To find out more about Recycle Week, and to find out what you can and can’t recycle where you live, visit www.recyclenow.org.uk/RecycleWeek