St James to turn green for National Recycle Week
ST JAMES is joining King's Cross in London and Belfast City Hall in going green in aid of Recycle Week, which gets under way today.
The illuminations aim to bring awareness to this year’s campaign, which is focused on ensuring that all recyclable items are recycled. Items such as empty aerosols, aluminium cans and food trays are often thrown out in general waste, but can be recycled.
Guernsey Waste minimisation and sustainability officer Douglas Button said: ‘The island has a great track record as far as recycling goes, but this campaign gives us the opportunity to remind islanders about other recyclable items around the home as well as the obvious ones.’
One example is that making an aluminium can or tin from recycled material uses 95% less energy than manufacturing one from raw materials.
‘We can all make a difference through recycling in terms of saving energy, reducing carbon emissions, and preserving resources,’ said Mr Button.
Guernsey Waste has not planned any large events for the week, but will have lots of information going out through its social media channels, including top tips and an invitation for islanders to share theirs as well.
It is also important that the materials the island exports for recycling are shown to be of good quality, to ensure that processors will accept them.
Items such as crisp packets and thin film are often put in blue recycling bags, but they must go in black bag waste.
‘It’s not just about the quantity that we recycle, quality also counts, and because islanders have been so good in the past, we’ve always been able to secure a market for our materials,’ said Mr Button.
‘People don’t need to scrub everything until it’s spotless, but it helps if people empty any leftovers into their food waste bin and rinse out any food containers.’
