Take Action on Plastic this Recycle Week

24th September 2018

Join The Highland Council in Recycle Week which takes place 24th to 30th September 2018 this year to help increase the amount of recycling, especially of plastic bottles from across the region.

Recycle week is an annual awareness week co-ordinated by Zero Waste Scotland with an aim to increase knowledge about the importance of recycling across Scotland. With an ever growing public concern around plastic pollution, it is of great significance to ensure that this key material is being recycled to avoid any environmental consequences.

Councillor Allan Henderson, Chair of The Highland Council's Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee said: "We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their recycling efforts. At present around 43%, which is around 58,000 tonnes, of waste generated by households and businesses in the region is recycled which makes a huge difference.

"From 1 January 2021, it will no longer be possible to landfill biodegradable municipal waste due to changes in legislation and the Council, like all Local Authorities in Scotland will be required to change how they dispose of this waste. A waste strategy for Highland is currently being developed to promote waste being regarded as a commodity or resource and to maximise reuse and recycling thereby managing waste in a sustainable way for future generations."

Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays can all be recycled in the blue bins which are collected fortnightly. It is estimated that there are almost 2000 tonnes of recyclable plastic ending up in landfill from households across the region when they could have easily been recycled. Items which often get forgotten include shower gel containers, plastic shampoo/conditioner bottles and cleaning product bottles. Drinks containers, yogurt pots, margarine tubs or similar and fruit and meat trays are all recyclable - all items must be clean, dryand loose.

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland said: "Recycle Week is all about mobilising action and getting as many people across Scotland to recycle more. Recent years have seen recycling becoming much more commonplace across the country, but we could all be doing a little bit more - whether it's running an event in your workplace, or starting to recycle more at home, Recycle Week is a great time to commit to picking up a new habit and helping Scotland move towards our ambitious targets.

“It's great to see The Highland Council taking part, and I would encourage businesses, community groups, schools and universities to get involved and sign up for Recycle Week."

For more information on what you can put in your bins or to find the nearest recycling banks and Household Waste Recycling Centres, please visit www.highland.gov.uk/recy