The Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson MP (pictured above), has voiced support of the MetalMatters recycling communications programme.
The industry-funded campaign works with local authorities to help improve capture rates for metals collected at the kerbside, with communications designed to encourage people to make their ‘metals matter’.
Three new MetalMatters campaigns launched last month, targeting 360,000 households in the London Borough of Lewisham, Glasgow City Council and Shropshire Council.
Attending the launch of the Shropshire campaign, Paterson said: “This is an excellent campaign to encourage households to recycle their metal packaging and one I’m keen to support. I’m looking forward to seeing some positive results from the people reached by all three of these campaigns.”
Each of the recently-launched campaigns will see leaflet drops to households and targeted marketing communications activities to promote the ‘make your metals matter’ message, including panels on recycling vehicles, outdoor advertising and town centre roadshows.
In addition, local authorities will be provided with a range of template communications materials for use in publications and on websites to promote the benefits of metal recycling.
Rick Hindley, Executive Director at Alupro, said: “The benefits of introducing the MetalMatters campaign don’t just stop at the increase in metal capture rates, but also allow local authorities to recover the campaign investment costs whilst also generating additional revenue streams that can be ploughed back into the communities they serve.
“To receive backing from the Secretary of State is a fantastic achievement for the campaign and is a true testament of the impact that MetalMatters continues to have on increasing the capture rate for metal packaging in kerbside recycling schemes, for those implementing the programme.”
MetalMatters is funded by a partnership of metal packaging manufacturers, fillers and reprocessors and is delivered on their behalf by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), working in partnership with local authorities and their waste collection partners.
In a review of all its 2012 campaigns, MetalMatters found that on average, councils saw a 20.9 per cent increase in the amount of metal packaging captured for recycling.
Find out more about MetalMatters.
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How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
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