Tag: Recycling Week

Recycle Week at Fort Kinnaird

5 WAYS YOU CAN RECYCLE AT FORT KINNAIRD

This week (Monday 17th – Sunday 23rd October) is Recycle Week – an annual event that celebrates recycling across the nation with the aim to get more people recycling more of the right things, more often.

To mark it, Fort Kinnaird is sharing five different ways you can recycle at the centre, from clothes and shoes to pet food and beauty packaging – sometimes with the chance to receive vouchers in return.

Liam Smith, centre director at Fort Kinnaird, said: “Supporting the community is extremely important to us at Fort Kinnaird, and doing our bit for the environment is a huge part of that.

“As a centre, we are committed to working towards a more sustainable future and we want to encourage our visitors to do the same. We hope by highlighting these great initiatives offered by our retailers we help to make recycling even easier for local shoppers – not just during this week, but beyond that too.”

Here are five recycling schemes you can make the most of at Fort Kinnaird this Recycle Week: 

  1. H&M

Through H&M’s Garment Collecting programme, you can take any unwanted clothes or textiles – from any brand and in any condition – to their store at Fort Kinnaird and receive a £5 digital voucher to use on your next purchase, as well as earn 20 ‘Conscious Points’ as part of its loyalty scheme.

Old garments are either marketed as second-hand clothing or recycled into something new entirely.

  1. schuh

Schuh’s ‘Sell Your Soles’ scheme offers customers £5 towards a new pair of shoes when they bring their old, worn pairs into store. The schuh Kids store at Fort Kinnaird also offers the same discount as part of its ‘Too Big For Your Boots’ initiative when taking in an old pair of shoes that no longer fit. 

  1. Pets at Home

At the Pets at Home store at Fort Kinnaird, pet owners can recycle old, rinsed food pouches from any brand that are made from a flexible plastic. These can be a struggle to recycle at home but, with the Pets at Home scheme, the pouches go through a specially designed process which heats the plastic, turning it back into an oil and separating the aluminium – which can then be made back into new products.

  1. M&S

The ‘Plastic Recycling Scheme’ from M&S helps customers to recycle plastic from any product in-store, regardless of whether it is an M&S product.

Carrier bags, food wrappers and packaging from clothing multipacks are just some of the items which can be recycled at the Fort Kinnaird store and are difficult to do so at home.

  1. Boots

The ‘Recycle at Boots’ scheme is aimed at hard-to-recycle beauty, healthcare and wellness products that cannot be put in recycling bins at home. Usually this is because they are too small (travel minis, mascaras), made of composite materials (make-up palettes, lipsticks) or made from non-recyclable materials (toothpaste tubes, lotion pumps).

Shoppers at Fort Kinnaird can gain up to 500 Boots Advantage Card points when they participate, which is equivalent to £5 to spend in store.

  1. The Leith Collective

The recently opened Leith Collective store at Fort Kinnaird is running a ‘coat exchange’ where you can donate your old winter and waterproof coats. These will then be made available for collection at no cost for those who need them this winter.

City council creates new online recycling tool to help you dispose of your waste correctly

We all know that recycling is one small step everyone can take to help the environment and lower our carbon footprint.

As part of this year’s recycling week (September 20-26) we’d like to help you reduce contamination in your bins which can spoil the rest of the contents and stop them from being recycled. We’ll also be promoting top tips for what to put in which bin and more on which plastics you can recycle.

We’ve created an easy-to -use online recycling sorter. You type in an item and it tells you if it can be recycled, which bin to put it in or where to take it – there’s also plenty of tips too.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener, said: “It’s really important we all get in the habit of disposing of our waste correctly and reusing and recycling where we can. This will all help towards our target for Edinburgh to become a net zero carbon city by 2030.

“To help you sort out your waste and stop even small bits of food and grease in the green recycling bin contaminating other items, like paper and cardboard spoiling the whole bin we’re providing top tips across various platforms,  including our website. Our brand new recycling sorter will also be a really useful guide too.”

Depute Leader, Cammy Day, said: “We’re trying to make recycling as easy as possible for our residents. 

“I know it can be confusing, with so many different kinds of plastics being used in packaging so we’re providing guidance on that and how to dispose of electrical items safely as well! Please check this out to help us recycle more.”

How to make the most of your recycling

Check it

Make sure it’s on the ‘yes please list’.

Empty it

Make sure any bottles or containers are empty. Remember, you can leave plastic drink bottle lids on, but please remove any pump sprays.

Rinse it

Rinse any food and drinks packaging with water before putting it in the bin – you can even use dish water to do this.

Remove it

Peel film lids and coverings off plastic bottles, tubs, pots and trays. Plastic film, wrapping and cellophane can’t be recycled. You don’t need to remove labels though.

Separate it

Don’t store containers and packaging inside each other – it’s difficult to separate them at the recycling plant.

How to recycle your plastics

What to recycle

Whether you use a wheelie bin or a communal bin you can easily recycle plastics in your green lidded bin. Just pop in your empty plastic:

  • bottles (juice, shampoo, household cleaning, toiletry bottles etc)
  • pots (yoghurt etc)
  • tubs (ice cream, butter etc)
  • trays (fruit punnets, ready meal trays etc)

We don’t collect any other type of plastic, so don’t put bags, wrappers, cellophane, toys or any other type of plastic in your green lidded bin.

Before you pop them in the bin remember to rinse the bottles and wash any food off pots, tubs and trays – you don’t need to remove labels, but some bottles come wrapped in a sleeve made from a different plastic. Tear these off and put them in your non-recyclable waste bin.

We accept bottles with or without the tops, but remove pump sprays before putting them in the bin as we can’t recycle them.

What happens to plastic recycling?

Our contractor recycles these in their own recycling plants in England. Anything they can’t recycle is turned into fuel.

Avoiding plastics means less waste

Everything you buy or use has an impact on the environment. Recycling helps to reduce this by reducing how many raw products we use but avoiding producing waste in the first place means even less impact.

Edinburgh has some great refill shops where you can bring your own tubs and bottles and refill them with dried foods, household cleaners and toiletries. Some supermarkets are also starting to develop refill stations in-store.

Plastic bags and wrappers

You can recycle plastic bags at larger supermarkets. They’re starting to collect a wider range of plastic wrappers.

Find out about recycling plastic bags and wrappers.

Large plastic items

We can’t collect and recycle large plastic items at our recycling centres at the moment. This includes items like garden furniture and toys. We’re looking for a reliable recycling company who will take items and we’ll start to collect them again as soon as we can.

You can still take them to one of our recycling centres to dispose of them, but we won’t be able to recycle them.

Other household plastics

Some types of plastics are much harder to collect, either due to their size or because they are made of a mix of materials and need specialist treatment.

Some shops have now started to provide collection points for things like lipstick packaging, pumps sprays and cosmetic packaging in store.

These include

  1. Boots
  2. The Body Shop
  3. Lush.

Not all stores will offer the service, so check their websites to find out what they take and which stores provide this.

How to recycle electrical items:

  • Kerbside bins – to recycle small electricals in Edinburgh you put them in your blue recycling box (which also collects your glass bottles and jars) if you have one. You can put in batteries (in clear plastic bags) and small electrical items like a hairdryer).
  • You can also use this website to find out where to https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/
  • For reusable items try to use an organisation such as the Changeworks reuse tool to find charities where you can donate them.
  • Take larger items to your nearest recycling centre and remember to book an appointment.
  • Various shops will also collect and recycle small electrical items.

You can also search the city council’s new online recycling sorter to find out what to do with your unwanted electricals.

Edinburgh calls on manufacturers to foot recycling bill

  • 69% believe taxpayers currently fund recycling but 67% believe manufacturers should pay instead
  • 82% of Edinburgh residents confident in how to recycle
  • Standardised packaging and easier recycling system seen as motivators for future change
  • COVID-19 pandemic has had positive impact on recycling attitudes

A new survey by UK recycling company Viridor has found that Edinburgh residents believe the taxpayer should not be footing the bill for recycling and that manufacturers should be responsible for costs.

In a YouGov poll of 1,000 EH postcode residents, Viridor’s annual Recycling Index found 69% believe that they are carrying the cost of recycling in the area, with a majority (67%) saying that manufacturers should really be paying instead.

Despite growing consumer concern about the environment, recycling knowledge and understanding among Edinburgh residents remain high with 82% confident they are disposing of their waste correctly.

Indeed, more than half of those surveyed (54%) believe confidence in recycling has increased thanks to information provided by local councils, government and business, with the same percentage believing their local council does all it can to make recycling simple to follow.

Similar to the 2019 Index however, more standardised packaging and recycling instructions (69%), coupled with an easier recycling system (52%), would be a major motivator to encourage more people to recycle their household waste. 

Reassuringly, the survey found that the increase in use and disposal of single-use products, for example face masks and plastic bottles, during the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a negative impact on attitudes to recycling, with more than half of those surveyed (55%) saying this makes it more important to find recycling solutions for all materials.

The 2020 Recycling Index also found that Edinburghers are ready to lead the charge with three quarters of those polled believing it is up to individuals to ensure their rubbish and waste is recycled.

However, the majority (85%) believe the council has a responsibility here, with three quarters also saying national government still has a key role to play in driving change. In addition, 87% believe non-recyclable waste should be used to create energy.

With an increasing focus on returning products to a circular economy and an increased use of recycled materials, the poll reveals around nine out of ten people would still buy their regular products if the packaging is updated to be more environmentally friendly, both in terms of material (87%) and coloured plastic (86%).

Sixty three per cent said they were more likely to purchase products made from recyclable packaging, however 44% of Edinburgh residents would not be prepared to pay any more money for these.

Labelling also remains a challenge with 39% of those surveyed admitting they still found current labelling on packaging confusing – representing a 6% increase on 2019’s survey. In spite of this however, 83% of Edinburgh residents say they do take notice of recycling information on product packaging.

The lack of uniformity in terms of recycling across different local councils continues to be recognised by consumers with only 29% of those surveyed believing recycling collections are consistent across the UK.

Viridor CEO Phil Piddington (above) said: “Viridor has been listening to consumer attitudes to recycling for five years and applying the lessons we’ve learnt to the way we run our business.

“Like Edinburgh residents, we think producers should bear the cost of recycling as not only is it important to take responsibility for everything we produce, this acts as a powerful motivating factor influencing product design.

“Viridor has always been very clear that the key to empowering the circular economy is ensuring that everything we produce is designed with recycling in mind. That’s why Viridor was a founding member of WRAP’s Plastic Pact, working with cross-sector partners to achieve the pact’s 2025 recyclability goals.”

Steven Don, Head of Local Authority Contracts Scotland, Viridor, said: “Our Recycling Index shows that the people of Edinburgh care about recycling and feel empowered to play their part.

“There is, however, always room for improvement, particularly in adapting recycling processes and ensuring information is as transparent as possible. We are making real progress in Scotland with Viridor currently working in partnership with more than 90% of Scottish councils to streamline services.

“Viridor has ambitious plans for Scotland’s circular economy which we shared earlier this summer. Our vision for a Scottish Circular Economy and Innovation Park will ensure the country is at the forefront of the green recovery.”

Government launches September Recycling Week

Pick up the recycling habit this September

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Cabinet Secretary for Environment Roseanna Cunningham has announced a week long effort to get Scotland recycling – and community groups are being encouraged to get involved.

Recycle Week will run from 12 to 18 September, co-ordinated by Zero Waste Scotland, it will aim to get everyone recycling more by raising awareness of the benefits and promoting easy ways to do more.

In the run up to the week local authorities, businesses, community groups, schools and colleges are being encouraged to get involved and take action to help boost recycling.

Launching the week this morning on World Environment Day (5 June), Ms Cunningham said: “We are lucky to be blessed with a stunning environment that is one of our most precious assets. It is crucial that we protect our resources and that’s key to our ambitions for a more circular economy in Scotland, where we keep products and materials in valuable use for longer.

“We’ve made great progress increasing recycling in recent years. For example in 2010 only 12% of households had food waste collections, while new figures show that has increased to 75%. It has never been easier to recycle your waste, but we still have further to go.

“People and communities the length and breadth of Scotland have a role to play and this September we’ll be encouraging more folk to pick up the recycling habit and do their bit for our environment.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Recycle Week is all about getting as many people in Scotland as possible aware of the need to recycle more and to recycle better.

“More people than ever are recycling, especially in relation to food waste, which has a huge environmental impact. But we can all be better at it, and during Recycle Week we’ll be highlighting the importance of doing our bit – providing advice on what and how to recycle best, exploding some of the myths in the process, with a series of high profile events and activities. I hope as many people as possible will get involved.”

For businesses, local authorities or community groups who want to get involved or host an event, information and support materials are available at http://www.recycleforscotland.com/recycle-week-2016