With the arrival of recycling bins in most towns and villages now, more people are trying to “do their bit” for the environment and for many good reasons such as…

PAPER - recycling one tonne of paper saves 24 trees, 30,000 litres of water and enough electricity for a three bedroom house for a year. It also causes 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials.

GLASS - recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a TV for 1½ hours. Glass is 100% recyclable but if buried in a landfill it will never decompose.

PLASTIC - recycling one tonne of plastic bottles saves enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for six hours.  If not recycled plastic can take up to 500 years to decompose.

CANS - recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours.

GENERAL - The transportation and production of raw materials uses large amounts of fossils fuels

Clean it before putting it in the bin
GLASS - Glass containers, bottles and jars should be rinsed before being placed in the green igloo.  Do not put in the corks, tops or lids.

PAPER AND CARDBOARD  - Fold the boxes so that they occupy less space.  Make sure to remove any staples, paper clips or plastic fasteners from any books, papers, magazines or any other paper or cardboard you deposit in the blue container.

PLASTICS, CANS AND TETRAPAK-BRICKS - Plastic bottles, bags, tetrapaks and cans should be
deposited, (either loose or in open plastic bags) into the yellow bins, empty, free of food or sauce and
squashed to reduce space.  Remove all plastic tops before depositing in the same bin.  

Finally, a couple of quick notes:
Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled.
The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.

It has never been easier to recycle than it is today - isn't it time to do your bit?