North Tyneside Council has launched a new recycling rewards campaign to encourage local residents to recycle more material.

The ‘Changing our Thinking’ campaign, which launched on Thursday (30 January), has been established by the council in partnership with environmental regeneration charity, Groundwork North East. It forms part of North Tyneside Council's new waste management strategy, which sets out plans to cut down on the waste each household produces, maximise reuse and recycling, minimise landfilling, and reduce the area’s carbon footprint.

Under the campaign, residents that pledge to ‘wash, squash, and recycle’ will be entered into a weekly draw to win £20 worth in shopping vouchers, as well as a monthly draw to win £100 worth of vouchers.

Schools are also being invited to pledge to recycle more, with the chance of winning £300 per term.

Pupils of Stephenson Memorial Primary School in Wallsend were amongst the first to get involved with the project, as it hosted the campaign launch on Thursday.

Around 355 children were told about the benefits of recycling, and were invited to think up a meal made up of uneaten food as part of the ‘Lunchbox Leftovers’ initiative, which highlights how food waste can be reduced.

'We all have a responsibility to ensure we do our upmost to reduce, reuse and recycle'

Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn said: "It's important our next generation of householders understand why recycling and reducing food waste is so important. It was absolutely wonderful to see children of such a young age being enthusiastic about the activities and chatting about how they can save the planet."

In order to promote the campaign, the council has today (3 February) launched a series of roadshows. These will inform visitors of how they can pledge to recycle more and will include tips on how to turn leftovers into meals.

Those visiting any of the roadshows promoting the campaign can also win spot prizes, as well as a ‘grand prize’ of £1,000 worth of high street shopping vouchers for the person who guesses the correct (or closest) amount of bottles held in a 240-litre recycling bin.

Councillor John Harrison, cabinet member for Housing and the Environment, said: “As a council, we are working extremely hard to encourage residents to recycle and think about the things they throw away.

“We need everyone to understand that waste is not just a council problem and we all have a responsibility to ensure we do our upmost to reduce, reuse and recycle the rubbish we produce.

“And rubbish also includes food waste; over the coming months we will be helping residents to think about what else can be done with food leftovers rather than them going straight in the bin.”

This campaign has been funded by £3.35 million of funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Weekly Collection Support Scheme.

Find out more about the ‘Changing our Thinking’ campaign.