New park bins help drive recycling rates in Telford and Wrekin
Following a successful trial in Telford Town Park, Telford & Wrekin Council is now installing 10 more recycling bins into district parks across the borough.
The eye-catching recycling bins are part of a campaign run by the council in partnership with environmental charity, Hubbub.
The campaign aims to make on-the-go recycling as easy as possible, to save plastic bottles, glass and cans from going to waste. It focuses on outdoor spaces, with residents encouraged to recycle in the borough's parks.
Cllr Lee Carter, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood, Commercial and Regeneration, said:
“Our residents have really embraced recycling at home – we saw 47% of household waste being recycled in the borough in 2019/20, up 2.2% on the previous year.
“Building on that success, we’re keen to drive recycling rates in other areas of daily life, including when people are on the go, out and about visiting our parks.
“Back in October, we installed 25 of the new bins in Telford Town Park and immediately saw an uplift in the volume of waste being diverted to recycling, with early figures showing the amount of plastic bottles, glass and cans collected increased by 123%.
“Following that successful launch, we’re excited to roll out phase two now, installing these bins across Telford and Wrekin, beginning with our district parks.”
Cllr Gilly Reynolds, Ward Member for Oakengates, said:
“We’re here in Hartshill Park today – one of our borough’s wonderful ‘green flag’ parks – where we have recently installed two of the new recycling bins. Bins have also been installed in Dawley Park and Bowring Park.
“We would like to thank everyone who recycles responsibly at home. With these new bins appearing across the borough, we hope people will find it easier to recycle when they’re out and about too.”
Cllr Carolyn Healy, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Green Spaces, Natural and Historic Environment, said:
“I’m delighted at the results of our initial audit from the trial in Telford Town Park, which suggests these bins are going to make a significant difference to the amount of waste we’re able to divert to recycling in Telford and Wrekin.
“As a council, we are focused on integrating sustainability across our services. We have committed to taking a leading role on climate change, and every initiative like this takes us one step closer to achieving our goal of carbon neutrality.”
For more information visit telfordandwrekin-intheloop.co.uk
Photo features Cllr Carolyn Healy (2nd from left), cabinet member for climate change, green spaces, natural and historic environment, with ward members for Oakengates and Ketley Bank, Cllrs Hilda Rhodes, Stephen Reynolds and Gilly Reynolds.
