Around 30 per cent of consumers are confused over what items can be recycled, according to a new consumer survey by the Waste & Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP) Recycle Now campaign.

Commissioned for Recycle Now’s annual recycling awareness push, Recycle Week (running 22 – 28 June), the survey asked 2,000 people about their recycling habits and found that 30 per cent were still uncertain as to what materials they could recycle, and where.

Further, nine out of 10 people said they often recycle items in the kitchen, but only half stated they regularly recycle items from the bathroom, despite there being a large amount of recyclable items – such as shampoo bottles, cardboard toilet roll tubes, and toothpaste boxes – in this location.

Recycling around the home

As such, the theme for this year’s Recycle Week is ‘Recycling around the home’, and its focus is on encouraging householders to extend recycling habits beyond the kitchen.

Householders are being urged to ‘check before they chuck’ and visit WRAP’s recently-relaunched recycling locator on www.recyclenow.com to identify recyclable items and local collection points for different material streams.

As part of Recycle Week, WRAP has also released new communication resources for its partners (such as local authorities) to help highlight to consumers the recyclability of some items that are often overlooked (such as aerosols and cleaning product bottles). The new resources, which can be downloaded from the WRAP Partners site, include leaflets, posters, and vehicle livery that uses CGI imagery to illustrate the specific items that can be recycled from the home.

Speaking of the resources, Marcus Gover, Director at WRAP, said: “We’ve developed the new communication resources to launch during Recycle Week; we’re encouraging all of our partners to download and start using them in all of their recycling communications activities.

“They’re designed so that partners can communicate clear recycling messages that truly resonate with consumers and provide specific instructions, which should ultimately help to drive recycling rates further.”

Many local authorities across the UK are holding events, workshops and roadshows this week to help residents identify what items can be recycled in their local area. For example, North Lincolnshire Council is displaying a collage at Scunthorpe Household Recycling Centre that is made from recyclable items, while West Sussex County Council will be hosting a recycling information stand at Crawley’s County Mall Shopping Centre.

Craig Mitchell, Head of Recycle for Wales, added: “During Recycle Week, we want to thank everyone for their recycling efforts. What’s currently recycled makes a huge difference, so just imagine what else could be achieved by recycling those items that are sometimes forgotten.

“We want people to think a little further than the kitchen and recycle items from other rooms in the home.”

Find out more about Recycle Week.