Casepak MRF team stars in council recycling campaign to encourage residents to ‘recycle right’
Team members at Casepak’s Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) are starring in a new campaign by Leicestershire County Council (LCC) aimed at encouraging residents to put the right things in their recycling bins...
The ‘Don’t let your recycling go to waste’ campaign launched at the start of September and offers householders clear, concise advice on how to avoid putting incorrect items into their recycling bins. It aims to boost the recycling of high-quality materials and reduce the number of contaminated items currently present in Leicestershire’s stream, before it is sent to Casepak’s 165,000 tonnes per annum MRF in Braunstone Frith.
Lee Bradbury, Operations Manager, Greg Smith, Material Quality Supervisor, Conor Dauven, Material Quality Assessor, James Latham, Yard Supervisor and Patricia Headley, Weighbridge Operative all feature in the campaign which gives householders an insight into the challenges faced at the MRF with contaminated materials. Lee’s message states:
“It’s very difficult for us to remove leftover residue or liquid from drinks and ketchup bottles for example, as any remaining residue can contaminate a whole load of good recyclable material.”
A recent spike in food waste and disposable nappies found in material collected from LCC households prompted the Council and Casepak to join forces and increase awareness of contaminated materials entering the recycling stream. Indeed, just one contaminated item – an unwashed food tray, jam jar or even a single, used nappy – has the potential to pollute an otherwise perfectly good quality load of material on its way to be recycled and repurposed into new products.
Georgina Cullen, Business Development Director at Casepak, said: “’Don’t let your recycling go to waste’ is about communicating with households to help them get the best out of their recycling. Just a few small changes, like washing out bottles and jars, can make a huge difference to the quality of the material we are able to recycle. If each household did their bit to combat contamination it would help ease the burden, as materials wouldn’t be entering the recycling stream.
“We’re proud that key members of the MRF team are able to help advise Leicestershire residents through this campaign.”
Leicestershire County Council is working with the district and borough councils across the county to improve Leicestershire’s recycling output. Around 55,000 tonnes of recyclable material from these councils is sent to Casepak’s MRF every year.
Blake Pain, county council cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “As a county, we aim to recycle 50% of all household waste by 2020.Working with residents during this campaign will help meet these targets and ensure Leicestershire is a sustainable and environmentally friendly place to live and work.”
Casepak and Leicestershire County Council have produced a useful Recycling Guide aimed at householders, which details issues faced with contaminated material and tips on what can and cannot be recycled at the MRF. A copy can be downloaded from www.lesswaste.org.uk
Casepak’s MRF has the capacity to process up to 165,000 tonnes of material each year, recovering 95% of the material processed. The facility exceeds standards set out in the MRF Code of Practice, and produces Technically, Environmentally and Economically Practicable compliant outputs.