Learn how to recycle the Unusual Suspects

Dacorum Borough Council’s recycling team will be on hand today (Tuesday, September 13) at Tesco in Jarmans Park from 12-2pm to remind residents of the ‘unusual suspects’ lurking around in the house. There will be recycling information and a chance to take part in competitions to win recycled goodies.

Residents are already aware of recycling plastic drinks bottles, food and drink cans, jam jars, cardboard boxes and newspapers, but ‘The Unusual Suspects’ such as aerosol cans, foil trays, beauty crème jars and toilet roll tubes are often missed.

The council’s recycling team are asking residents to search their homes for these kinds of items that can be recycled, such as toothpaste boxes and tissue boxes. If everyone in the UK recycled one toothpaste box, it would save enough energy to run a fridge in over 2,000 homes for a year.

Some of the other unusual suspects wanted are perfume or aftershave bottles, aluminium deodorant and air freshener aerosol cans. If everyone recycled one aluminium deodorant aerosol can in the UK, enough energy could be saved to vacuum over 480,000 homes for a year. Or, if everyone in the UK recycled one air freshener aerosol can, enough energy could be saved to run a fridge for over 91,000 homes for a year.

Councillor Janice Marshall, portfolio holder for environment sustainability and regulatory services, said, “Recycling is already making a big difference thanks to the dedication of our residents.

“Recycling is important, as it saves energy which helps the environment, so it’s great to keep up the good work. Recycle Week is an ideal time for everybody to really take a fresh look at their recycling habits, and to see if there are any opportunities to recycle even more items.

“There are lots of items that can be recycled, but some are lesser known or more ‘unusual’ than others, and so that’s what we’re trying to raise awareness of.”

For more information on what can be collected for recycling from the home, visit www.dacorum.gov.uk/whichbin

To find the nearest bring banks and Household Waste Recycling Centres use the Recycling Locator from Recycle Now www.recyclenow.com

There will also be daily top tips from the council’s Facebook at www.facebook.com/dacorum and the Twitter page @dacorumbc