Recycle Week, a seven day event aimed at encouraging people to recycle more materials more often, celebrates its 10th anniversary today (17 June).

First set up by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in 2003, as ‘The BIG Recycle’, the week of action aimed to make consumers ‘take recycling seriously’.

Each year, the event encourages people to make a conscious effort to recycle more, and this year, the week running from today (17 June) until Sunday (23 June), calls on consumers to recycle everything they can ‘at home and away’. The theme covers packaging, metals, plastics, textiles and food waste collections.

According to WRAP, the week aims to help consumers understand what can and can’t be recycled ‘at a time when huge changes and improvements to recycling collections and services are taking place’.

'Still more we can all do to recycle more things'

Speaking of the 10th anniversary, WRAP CEO Liz Goodwin said: “As a nation, we’ve come a long way since we first began to take recycling seriously.

“This is good news for the environment - it means we’re sending less waste to landfill and making better use of the natural materials that go into the products we use every day. It is also hugely important for our economy. The UK recycling sector now generates more than £13 billion a year in sales of recycled materials, employs more than 40,000 people and contributes around £3 billion-worth of additional value each year to the UK economy.

“The sector has also increased its sales revenue threefold since 1998, outstripping growth in the overall economy over the same period of time."

According to WRAP, during the decade that Recycle Week has been running, local authorities have collected huge quantities of materials, including: paper and card worth around £1 billion; plastic worth around £339 million; mixed cans worth around £174 million; mixed glass worth around £153 million; and textiles worth around £124 million.

“This progress is thanks to a huge effort by the public, local councils, businesses, community groups and charities, many of whom use WRAP’s recyclenow websites, and Recycle Week’s resources to help them”, said Goodwin.

Resource Minister Lord de Mauley added: “Dealing with waste and recycling properly not only makes environmental sense but also good business sense. We’ve made great strides in household recycling and over the next decade we can look forward to doing much more to reduce waste in the first place.

“Given this progress, you may be asking whether we still need Recycle Week. The truth is, there’s still more we can all do to recycle more things, more often – to capture more of the valuable materials that are collected for recycling in our own area.”

Recycle Week events

Organisations and local authorities up and down the country are expected to host events during the week, with Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP) inviting local community groups and volunteers to visit waste management facilities so that they can see what happens to their waste and recycling once it’s collected.

Rebecca Lake, from OWP, said: “We often get asked what happens to the rubbish once it’s collected and are pleased to be able to offer the chance to visit these facilities so we can show how important it is to recycle.”

Throughout June a series of recycling road shows will also be taking place across Oxfordshire, including a mini compost giveaway on the 20June at Ferriston shops, Banbury; a Swap Shop on 15June at Headington Community Centre, Oxford; and an Upcycling furniture workshop on 20 June at Barracks Lane Community Garden.

Elsewhere, staff from Croydon Council’s recycling team will be rewarding positive ‘recycle on the go’ behaviour with small prizes such as pasta measuring tools. On 29 June the council is supporting the borough’s waste contractor, Veolia, in organising a ‘give and take’ day at Surrey Street Market, a free car boot fair where people can bring along unwanted items and swap them for something else. The objective is to cut down on waste by getting people to ensure that things are reused rather than just thrown away.

Councillor Phil Thomas, Cabinet Member for Highways and Environmental Services, said: “Croydon Council is dedicated to improving recycling 365 days of the year. However, these national weeks of action are useful ways of reminding people how much more they can do to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill every year.”

Read for more information on Recycle Week and what you do to recycle more.