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Shop NowRecycling Roundup 19th August
Recycling Roundup 19th August
Changes are coming to waste and recycling collections in some parts of Aberdeenshire from next month. Collections in Braemar and Cruden Bay will take place on a three-weekly cycle from 10th September. Food waste will be collected each week, recyclable materials will be collected for two weeks out of three, and non-recyclable waste will be collected once every three weeks. The move comes as Aberdeenshire Council look to improve recycling rates across the region. It’s estimated that over 70% of waste produced in the area could be recycled but the current rate is just 43%.
A local councillor said that the new collection arrangements support the council’s aims to increase recycling and make it as easy as possible for residents to recycle. Residents will be sent a letter to explain the changes and how they will work.
UK snack giant Walker’s Crisps has partnered up with recycling specialists TerraCycle to recycle more packaging and raise funds for life-saving services across Scotland.
Walker’s produce more than 55% of the crisps that are sold in the UK each year. Its Leicester factory alone produces over 7000 crisp packets every day, which equates to a massive 77,000 tonnes of packaging each year.
Crisp packets are notoriously hard to recycle, so in a bid to increase recycling rates, Walker’s has joined forces with TerraCycle to set up a collection network at over 14,000 locations across the UK. So far, over 9 million crisp packets have been collected and sent for recycling.
TerraCycle’s state-of-the-art equipment cleans, sorts, and shreds the material which is then turned into plastic pellets which can be used to make new items like bags, frisbees, park benches, plant pots, and watering cans.
Some of the funds raised by the recycling scheme are being donated to UK charities such as the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance. The air ambulance operates out of Perth and can reach 90% of Scotland’s population within 25 minutes. The money raised will go towards expanding the service so it can reach more people.
The Authorities in Rome are trialling a scheme where people can recycle bottles in return for free journeys on the city’s public transport.
The scheme is called Recycle + Travel, or in Italian ‘Ricicli + Viaggi’ and it accepts PET plastic bottles which are collected and sent for processing. Reverse vending machines at three of the city’s metro stations give people 5 cents for one bottle, which is then credited towards the cost of a metro or bus journey.
The Mayor of Rome said that it’s the first major European capital to adopt such a scheme and added that it makes creating a circular economy very easy.
As well as improving recycling rates, the authorities hope it will discourage would-be fare-dodgers.
The pilot project is being run by the local authorities for a year to see if it improves recycling levels and discourages fare-dodging.
The recycling scheme could also help address Rome's rubbish growing problem. Rubbish has been piling up in the streets of the city over the summer because local rubbish dumps are closed for essential maintenance.
But Rome isn’t the only city that has realised that something needs to be done about litter and plastic pollution in particular.
Finland has pledged to go carbon neutral by 2035, and Paris Is set to start planting trees in front of its landmarks in a bit to improve air quality.