The Isle of Wight Council, in partnership with Amey, is calling on Isle of Wight residents to recycle more plastic, especially bottles.
This follows a recent study by the University of California, which found that humans have created more than 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic since the early 1950s, when the large scale production of synthetic materials began.
You might assume that these days, plastic bottles are one of the most commonly recycled items. But according to WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), of the 480 plastic bottles used by the average household each year, only 270 are recycled. This means a whopping 44% are still being put in the rubbish bin, where they end up in landfill or in the natural environment, where it will not biodegrade for centuries.
With this in mind the council is reminding residents to recycle all plastic bottles they use from every room in the house, given the huge gains to be had from recycling them. For instance, if all 70,000 -plus households on the island recycled just 1 more four pint plastic milk bottle in a week, it would save enough energy to power St Mary’s Hospital, Newport for 4.9 days.
The Isle of Wight Council Executive member for procurement, waste management, special projects and forward planning, Councillor Michael Murwill said:
“We know that a lot of people are recycling their plastic bottles a lot of the time, which is great. But these figures show that clearly there’s a lot more we can do.
“Some people may not realise how much of a difference they can make by recycling something as simple as a plastic bottle. They can be transformed again and again into not just more plastic bottles but in actual fact a huge number of items: from football shirts to picnic benches and fleece tops. It also reduces the amount being wasted and not being given a second life, which in turn is good for the environment.”
Got the recycling bug? Be fantastic with your plastic recycling
Here are a few tips to ensure you can confidently recycle all your plastic bottles:
• Firstly, make sure the bottles are empty;
• Give them a quick rinse (no need to remove labels though);
• Squash the bottles to save space in your recycling bin (then put the lids back on);
• If you’re on the go; pop your plastic bottle in a bag and recycle it when you get home rather than chucking it in a waste bin.
And you don’t need to stop at the usual suspects like fizzy drinks and milk bottles either. You may not realise that there are a huge number of plastic bottles and containers from around your home that can be recycled, including:
• Shampoo bottles;
• Hand soap dispensers;
• Bathroom/kitchen cleaner bottles;
• Bleach bottles;
• Washing up liquid bottles.
Plastics facts and figures
• An estimated 2.2 million tonnes of plastic packaging is used in the UK each year, of this 1.1 million tonnes of rigid plastics packaging was consumed by households.
• An estimated 594,000 tonnes of plastic bottles are used by UK households each year – that’s about 33 million bottles every day.
• Over 337,000 tonnes of plastics bottles were collected from UK households in 2014/5, which gives a plastic bottle recycling rate of 57 per cent.
• Overall this means the average UK household uses nearly 500 plastic bottles per year, but only recycles just over half of them.
• Over 155,000 of other plastics packaging was collected for recycling.
• Overall the recycling rate for plastic packaging from the household is now around 44 per cent.
• Nearly 100 per cent of all local authorities in the UK collect plastic bottles from the kerbside.
• High performing authorities collect nearly 16 kg of plastic bottles from households per year.
• Recycling a tonne of plastic bottles saves three quarters of a tonne of carbon – this is the equivalent of travelling nearly 2,500 miles in an average car.
To check you are putting the tight thing in the right bin visit: https://www.iwight.com/AZRecyclingandWaste
Or for tips and advice, visit: www.RecycleNow.com
